Press Room

CD Live! Presents Steve Earle with Special Guest Allison Moorer

2008-07-08T20:30:00Z

PITTSBURGH -The Three Rivers Arts Festival, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and WYEP-FM are pleased to announce CD Live! presents a solo and acoustic evening with Steve Earle with special guest Allison Moorer at 8 p.m., Thursday, July 24, 2008, at the Byham Theater.

Songwriter, singer, guitarist, playwright, actor, recovered drug addict, political activist - Steve Earle has been through enough for two careers, or even two lifetimes. Earle made his start as a songwriter, penning hits for other artists while quietly honing his own talent. His first few albums, all critically acclaimed, saw Earle exploring a number of different styles from rockabilly to traditional rock and roll to straight country, but always Earle recorded on his own terms. An outlaw, Earle constantly fought the overwhelming influence of Nashville that tried to force his music into a box. And when it seemed that drugs would ruin Earle's illustrious career, he overcame his addiction and released a masterpiece, the 1995 acoustic album Train a Comin'. Since then, Earle has not stopped touring and recording. Recently, his work has become increasingly political, attacking the death penalty and the war in Iraq.

For Earle's 2007 release Washington Square Serenade, he enlisted the help of John King, half of the renowned electronic duo the Dust Brothers, to craft yet another non-traditional work of art. The album explores issues like immigration and poverty, all set against the backdrop of Earle's new home, New York City. Washing Square Serenade is just another indication that Earle shows no signs of stopping or slowing down.

Special guest Allison Moorer, Earle's wife and younger sister of country singer Shelby Lynne, brings her own Grammy and Academy Award-nominated country to complement the work of her husband. Moorer's latest album, Mockingbird, is a lush collection of covers from a variety of artists including Johnny Cash, Nina Simone and Cat Power. Every track is wrapped in Moorer's warm, expressive voice.

Tickets for the July 24 performance run from $29.75 - $40.75. To purchase tickets, call 412.456.6666, visit the Theater Square Box Office in downtown Pittsburgh, or buy online at www.pgharts.org. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Calendar Listing
CD Live! presents Steve Earle with special guest Allison Moorer. 8 p.m., Thursday, July 24, 2008, at the Byham Theater, 101 6th Street, downtown Pittsburgh. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets $29.75 - $40.75. To purchase tickets, go online at www.pgharts.org, call 412.456.6666 or visit the Theater Square Box Office. CD Live! is a project of the Three Rivers Arts Festival, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and WYEP-FM.

About CD Live!
CD Live! widens the creative expression of the Pittsburgh music scene while advancing the artistry of musicians from around the world. This collaborative project of the Three Rivers Arts Festival, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and WYEP-FM was formed to build new music audiences and to welcome these listeners to the Cultural District.

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival
The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website www.artsfestival.net.

Contact
Lauren Bracey
412.281.8723 x27

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Click thumbnails to download print-quality images by Ted Barron.

Shelby Lynne Cancels June 20 Performance

2008-06-04T19:42:40Z

PITTSBURGH - Country star Shelby Lynne has canceled her performance at this year's Three Rivers Arts Festival, and the rest of her June performances as well. Joe Grushecky's performance will go on as scheduled at 6:30, Friday, June 20, 2008, at the Three Rivers Arts Festival Main Stage. Three Rivers Arts Festival will make every attempt to schedule a new headline performer that evening.

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival

The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. The 49^th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival runs from June 6-22, 2008. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website.

2008 Three Rivers Arts Festival Takes It to the Streets - Again!

2008-05-12T13:45:00Z

PITTSBURGH - With 300 artists, more than 50 live music performances, 15 visual arts installations and 4 original dance and theatre productions, summer begins in downtown Pittsburgh with the 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival. The 2008 Festival will again enliven the historic plazas, city streets and open spaces of downtown Pittsburgh with original art and live performances due to continuing renovations at Point State Park.

"For 49 years, the Three Rivers Arts Festival has served as the unofficial start of summer for the City of Pittsburgh," said Richard Sieber, executive vice president of the Three Rivers Arts Festival advisory board. "Through the collaboration of government agencies, foundations and civic organizations, we have reinvented the Festival over the past two years as a model for how the arts can engage the community and enliven the downtown core of the city."

As the longest and largest arts event in the city, the Festival is a major driver of economic activity in downtown Pittsburgh. Approximately 500,000 people attend the Festival's 17 days of performance, visual art and music, and the Duquesne Light Artists Market generates about $2.4 million in direct sales for participating artists. Overall, VisitPittsburgh estimates that the 2007 Festival generated a $23 million economic impact for downtown businesses.

Artistically, the Three Rivers Arts Festival both produces and exposes some of the most cutting-edge, quality and innovative work happening in the Pittsburgh art scene and beyond. "The 2008 Festival features more new and site-specific creations than ever before," said Executive Director Elizabeth Reiss. "The works we've selected and commissioned for the Festival represent the themes of do-it-yourself, repurposing discarded materials for creative uses, and community identity that are prevalent in the global contemporary art world today."

Among over 100 individual events and performances, highlights of the 2008 Festival include:

•    Contained: A new exhibition developed in partnership with Associated Artists of Pittsburgh that engaged 10 artists and artist teams to transform used shipping containers into immersive art experiences. At Contained, Pittsburgh "dance ninjas" Attack Theatre have created a new site-specific interactive dance work that swings and dangles performers from the 8-foot-high containers.

•    Take Me Out: The flagship collaboration of the third annual 4th River Project, barebones productions' presentation of the Tony-Award-winning play takes audiences into the locker room of a professional baseball team. Now in its third year, 4th River Projects support ground-breaking local arts organizations as they reach for new heights of production excellence and risk-taking.

•    Dream Machine, an interactive sculpture by Schenley High School graduate Nathan Green, invites participants to interact with whimsical playground equipment in Market Square.

•    The annual Duquesne Light Artists Market, where 300 artists and fine craftspeople from around the world sell their creations and share their experiences.

•    The UPMC Health Plan Family Festival, featuring environmentally-conscious hands-on art experiences and the new Community Stage, where children from around the region will perform dance, music and theatre.

•    17 nights of performance on the Festival Main Stage, located at the Stanwix Triangle, opening with jam-band legends moe. and closing with alt-country guitarist Alejandro Escovedo, plus weeknight happy hour concerts on the Market Square Stage.

The Three Rivers Arts Festival depends on support from the community and investment from area businesses. Area foundations have made significant investments in the 2008 Festival. Over 100 are foundations and corporations contributed to the 2008 Festival, enabling the presentation of more originial performances and installations than ever before.

"Duquesne Light is proud to continue its long-standing support of the Three Rivers Arts Festival," says Joseph Vallarian, Duquesne Light spokesperson. "As a company, we actively support events that are economic drivers for the Pittsburgh region, and the Festival certainly qualifies, as it is one of the premier events in the area."

Media partners have stepped up Pittsburgh City Paper, 91.3 WYEP, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Comcast and Pittsburgh Magazine to spread the word about the 2008 Festival. Collaborations with organizations like the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and PUMP will fill Market Square with energy and excitement.

Calendar Listing
49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival. June 6-22, 2008. Downtown Pittsburgh. Hours: Duquesne Light Artists Market and indoor exhibits: 12 - 8 pm daily. Performances and food courts: 12 - 9:30 pm daily. UPMC Health Plan Family Festival: 12 - 7 pm daily. Most programs free and open to the public.

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival
The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. The 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival runs from June 6-22, 2008. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website www.artsfestival.net.

Download this press release
Download the full Festival schedule Last updated May 23, 2008
Download the full Festival media kit (70 MB). Last updated May 12, 2008

Three Rivers Arts Festival Unveils Plan to Reduce Environmental Impact With Help From Colcom Foundation

2008-05-12T13:45:00Z

PITTSBURGH - Over the course of the next three years, the Three Rivers Arts Festival will dramatically reduce the amount of waste it produces. Thanks to a generous grant from the Colcom Foundation, the 2008 Festival will introduce large-scale composting in its food vending area in collaboration with partner company Restorative Events, LLC, a local company devoted to producing environmentally-friendly public events. At the end of the three-year initiative, the Festival and Restorative Events will introduce standards that may become the equivalent of LEED certification for large-scale public events.

"The Three Rivers Arts Festival is the largest public event in the city of Pittsburgh, and as such, has significant public and environmental impact," said Carol Zagrocki, Program Director of the Colcom Foundation. "Greening the Festival has the double benefit of reducing the environmental impact of the event while educating a large audience about the importance of environmental sustainability."

"This new initiative allows us to invest in Festival patrons a sense of personal responsibility for their impact on the environment," said Richard Sieber, executive vice president of the Festival's advisory board. "We are immensely grateful to the Colcom Foundation for giving us this opportunity."

According to the EPA, in 2000, 97.4% of food waste in the US was needlessly sent to landfills. The 2008 Festival will introduce fully compostable starch-based products, including paper and pulp based napkins and plates; cups, straws and lids made from cornstarch; and cutlery made from potato starch. All of these products and the additional food waste from the food stands will be collected and composted at an industrial composting facility. This waste will eventually be turned into soil, the end result of the composting process. There will also be some recyclable products at this year's Festival including aluminum foil, soda bottles and large lemonade cups. This initiative will not affect food prices.

To enact change, there will be enclosed waste stations at the food court and stage areas of this year's Festival. Each waste station will have 3 clearly marked waste cans, and volunteers at the station will explain which waste products go in which can. Casual estimates indicate that up to 20 cubic yards of waste per day, or 50% of all waste, will be composted, a statistic that will only improve in the coming years.

Restorative Events Founder and Principal Ryan Walsh stressed the importance of community participation to the success of the initiative: "We'll need approximately 50 volunteers each day of the 17 day Festival to maximize the impact of this initiative, to truly make a difference." Interested individuals and groups can volunteer on the Three Rivers Arts Festival website, www.artsfestival.net.

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UPMC Health Plan Family Festival Invites Young Artists to Remake/Retake

2008-05-12T13:40:00Z

PITTSBURGH - Experimental artists of all ages are invited to share in environmentally-friendly, hands-on art-making experiences at the UPMC Health Plan Family Festival, part of the 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival. With the theme Remake/Retake, the 2008 Family Festival engages young and old artists alike in creating artistic treasures from discarded materials. Located at Hertz Investment Group Plaza at Gateway Center, the UPMC Health Plan Family Festival is free and open to the public from 12 noon - 7 pm, Friday, June 6 - Sunday, June 22, 2008.

"As part of the biggest free arts event in the city, the UPMC Health Plan Family Festival is the longest, most engaging and most interactive opportunity for informal arts education in Pittsburgh," said Elizabeth Reiss, executive director of Three Rivers Arts Festival. "This year's activities will demonstrate how recycled and reclaimed materials can be used for creative purposes, inspiring children to use everyday materials in fresh, new ways."

Hands-on experiences include:
•   A 20-foot sculpture of an endangered praying mantis will welcome visitors to the plaza. Artist Norman Beck will create the sculpture, called My Recycled Prayer, from recycled and reclaimed materials.
•    Creative Reuse Pittsburgh will provide mountains of unconventional materials and an opportunity for children and adults alike to create their own art projects to take or wear home, and contribute to large-scale sculptures that will evolve over the course of the Festival.
•   The Allegheny County Immunization Coalition presents the winning entries from its 2008 poster contest.

Performances include:
•   WQED presents the Queen of Hearts. The Queen will tell some of her favorite stories and provide plenty of opportunities for interaction. As with any good story, there is always an activity to follow!
•   panPittsburgh offers 2008 Steelband Showcase, featuring the steel drum talents of area high school youths.
•   The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh will be decorating a great big birthday cake to celebrate its 25th birthday. Join the fun from 12 noon - 3 pm on Sunday, June 22, when the Museum will provide oodles of fun materials to decorate a 5-foot-high, very special cake, with cupcakes for all to enjoy. In addition, see the Children's Museum's exhibit Stories of Children, a reflection of real children's lives in Allegheny County featuring photographs by kids and professional photographers every day at the Family Festival.

Ten groups of Greater Pittsburgh youths, ages 6-18, will perform choral and instrumental music, theater and dance on the Community Stage. "From Celtic and classical Indian dance to rock music, Pittsburgh's kids are actively participating in the arts," said Festival Executive Director Elizabeth Reiss. "The new Community Stage at the UPMC Health Plan Family Festival engages the community in supporting children's artistic endeavors."

The performance schedule is as follows:

Saturday, June 7
12:30 pm   Seton Center School of Arts - Core Choir: Choral Broadway favorites
5:15 pm   Yinz Winds: a classical woodwind trio

Sunday, June 8
12:30 pm   Odissi Dance: Classical Indian dance
2 pm       WQED presents the Queen of Hearts
5:15 pm   Fine Fiddlers of Pittsburgh: Violin ensemble with piano accompaniment

Saturday, June 14
12:30 pm   Extreme Strings Orchestra: Folk, blues and rock string ensemble
2 pm       panPittsburgh 2008 Steelband Showcase
5:15 pm   Pittsburgh DanceXplosion: Eclectic dance performances by children ages 3 and up

Sunday, June 15
12:30 pm   Celtic Spirit Highland Dancers of Pittsburgh: Traditional dance from Scotland
2 pm       panPittsburgh 2008 Steelband Showcase

Saturday, June 21
2 pm       panPittsburgh 2008 Steelband Showcase
5:15 pm   East End Kids: Song and dance medley troupe

Sunday, June 22
12:30 pm   October Innocence: Female acoustic pop duo
2 pm       panPittsburgh 2008 Steelband Showcase
5:15 pm   Dreams of Hope: Gay, bisexual, transgendered, and allied youth creative performance group

Calendar Listing
The Three Rivers Arts Festival presents the UPMC Health Plan Family Festival, June 6-22, 2008. Hertz Investment Group Plaza at Gateway Center. Free. For more information, visit www.artsfestival.net.

08 05-12 Family Festival.doc

Artists from Around the World Gather to Sell Wares

2008-05-12T13:40:00Z

PITTSBURGH - From jewelry to ceramics, painting to metalwork, more than 300 artists from around the world will gather at the Three Rivers Arts Festival's 2008 Duquesne Light Artists Market. The Market opens at noon on Friday, June 6, 2008, with 144 artists. New artists arrive on June 12, 13, 17 and 20, making the Duquesne Light Artists Market a fresh experience several times over. The Market operates daily noon - 8 pm, June 6-22, at One, Two and Three Gateway Center Plaza in downtown Pittsburgh.

Three Rivers Arts Festival Executive Director Elizabeth Reiss said, "From our beginning 49 years ago, the Three Rivers Arts Festival has focused on supporting working artists. With the help of sponsors like Duquesne Light, we're able to continue fulfilling that mission."

Marketplaces like the Duquesne Light Artists Market provide artists with a substantial source of income. Many of the artists in the Market travel the country each summer to sell their wares, with markets such as this one representing a substantial source of income. 30% of the artists at the Market are from Pennsylvania. The average artist makes $6,000 in sales during his or her three- to 12-day stay. Overall, the Duquesne Light Artists Market generates $2.4 million in sales for working artists.

The Duquesne Light Artists Market is a juried exhibition requiring artists to meet stringent requirements. Participants are screened by a distinguished panel of local artists and artisans. All work for sale in the Market must be handmade by the artists themselves, and they must be present in the Market all times - no proxy salespeople are allowed, which gives festival-goers the opportunity to converse with the artists in a personal setting, to discover the when, the where, the how and the what behind the pieces they find most captivating.

Visitors will have the opportunity to see the techniques behind creating fine arts and crafts at Turning Ideas into Art, when artists from the Artists Market and local arts organizations demonstrate crafts from woodworking to ceramics, giving lucky observers the chance to get involved. Different demonstrations will take place each hour from noon - 8 pm on Saturday, June 7, and noon - 6 pm on Sunday, June 8, 2008, in the tent on Liberty Avenue just outside the Duquesne Light Artists Market at One, Two and Three Gateway Center Plaza.

"People are sometimes surprised by how much original pieces of art cost," said Sonja Sweterlitsch, Artists Market coordinator. "By providing an opportunity for visitors to interact with artists and see them at work, we hope we can demonstrate the time and skill that goes into producing the quality of artwork for sale at the Duquesne Light Artists Market."

In addition to numerous artists from the Duquesne Light Artists Market, the following local organizations will also present demonstrations:
•   Pittsburgh Glass Center - glass beadmaking using flame
•   Woodturners Anonymous turning on a laithe, a machine that spins blocks of wood
•   The Union Project - using a potters' wheel
•   Touchstone Center for Crafts - blacksmithing
•   Calligraphy Guild of Pittsburgh - calligraphy

Calendar Listings
The Three Rivers Arts Festival presents the Duquesne Light Artists Market. 12 noon - 8 pm, June 6-22, 2008. One, Two and Three Gateway Center Plaza, Downtown Pittsburgh.

Turning Ideas into Art at the Duquesne Light Artists Market. Fine art and craft demonstrations. 12 noon - 8 pm, Saturday, June 7, and 12 noon - 6 pm, Sunday, June 8, 2008. Duquesne Light Artists Market, One, Two and Three Gateway Center Plaza, Downtown Pittsburgh.

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival
The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. The 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival runs from June 6-22, 2008. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website www.artsfestival.net.

Download this press release

Baseball Comes Out in Greenberg's Tony Award-Winning Play

2008-05-12T13:40:00Z

PITTSBURGH - Barebones productions challenges the limits of Pittsburgh theater in its 4th River presentation of Richard Greenberg's Tony Award-winning play, Take Me Out. Take Me Out opens at 8 pm, Friday, June 6, 2008, at Navarra, 131 Seventh Street, downtown Pittsburgh, as part of the 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival. Performances continue at 8 pm, Wednesdays - Sundays, June 7-22, 2008.

Take Me Out tells the story of Darren Lemming, the star center fielder of the world-champion New York Empires professional baseball team. Lemming is young, rich, famous, talented, handsome, and so convinced of his popularity that when he casually announces that he is gay, he assumes the news will be readily accepted by everyone. The play chronicles the fallout from Lemming's announcement as it spreads through the team, the media and the nation. Examining themes of democracy, racism, celebrity, sexuality and discrimination through the lens of sport, Take Me Out won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Play.

"Take Me Out creatively juxtaposes controversial ideas of sexual identity with the great American tradition of professional baseball," said Three Rivers Arts Festival Executive Director Elizabeth Reiss. "We are proud to collaborate with barebones productions to debut this play in Pittsburgh."

"Barebones has a history of producing Pittsburgh premiers of the most highly provocative, thought-provoking and edgy theater in Pittsburgh," says barebones Artistic Director Patrick Jordan. "We tackle plays with challenging content by some of the hottest young playwrights in the world - plays that might not otherwise be produced in this area. Our partnership with the Three Rivers Arts Festival has allowed us to mount this highly complicated play and reach new levels of production and promotion."

"Seeding and supporting 4th River Projects is the Festival's way of investing directly in innovative Pittsburgh arts organizations," said Reiss. "By collaborating on Take Me Out, barebones productions and Three Rivers Arts Festival have created a top-notch theater experience that extends the boundaries of both of our organizations."

The all-male cast of 11 features Christian Felix as Darren Lemming and also includes Bingo O'Malley, Tom Aulino, Tristan Farmer, Jeffrey Carpenter, Joshua Elijah Reese, Jose Rivas, Joseph "JJ" Jackson, Tony Bingham and Patrick Jordan.

Take Me Out is directed by New Kensington native David Whalen, a Point Park graduate. Whalen has worked extensively at South Coast Rep in California and Playmakers Rep in North Carolina, and last year played lead roles in several Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theater productions, earning the 2007 award for Theatrical Performer of the Year from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The artistic team also includes Lighting Designer Scott Nelson, Scene Designer Tony Ferrieri, Costume Designer Richard Parsakian, and Sound Designer Dave Bjornson.

Tickets for Take Me Out are $10. Tickets can be purchased at www.artsfestival.net, by visiting the Cultural District Box Office at Theater Square, or by calling 412.456.6666.

Take Me Out is supported by a Seed Award from the Sprout Fund, UPMC and Bossa Nova and Navarra event space.

Calendar Listing
4th River presents barebones productions in Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg. 8 pm, Wednesdays - Sundays, June 6 - 22, 2008. Navarra, 131 Seventh Street, Downtown Pittsburgh. $10. For tickets, visit www.artsfestival.net or call the Cultural District Box Office at 412.456.6666. 4th River is a program of the Three Rivers Arts Festival.

About barebones productions
Founded in 2003, barebones facilitates the growth of local theater artists by producing challenging, entertaining, thought-provoking plays and attracts new theater audiences by employing minimal production elements for maximum impact. Previous productions include Bug, The Grey Zone, Frozen, The Glory of Living, This is Our Your, Bash and most recently Cherry Smoke, which premiered at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival
The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. The 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival runs from June 6-22, 2008. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website www.artsfestival.net.

Download this press release

Music Calendar for the Three Rivers Arts Festival

2008-05-12T13:30:00Z

Unless otherwise noted, lunchtime shows are at 12 pm. Happy Hour shows are at 5:30 pm. Opening acts go on at 6:30 with headliners at 7:30. Late night concerts begin after Main Stage performances are over, usually around 9:30 pm. Lunchtime shows, opening acts and headliners all take place on the Main Stage at Stanwix Triangle. Happy Hour and Late Night shows are in Market Square. All performances are free and open to the public.

Friday, June 6
Lunchtime: Blindsider
Happy Hour: Paul Luc
Opening: Teddy Thompson
Headliner: moe.
Late Night: Poogie Bell Band

Saturday, June 7
Lunchtime: Mon Gumbo
Opening: Scott Blasey
Headliner: James McMurtry

Sunday, June 8
Lunchtime: Kenny Blake
Opening: Raul Midon
Headliner: Lizz Wright

Monday, June 9
Lunchtime: Melissa Quinn Band
Happy Hour: Lohio
Opening: Cellofourte
Headliner: Ben Hardt and his Symphony

Tuesday, June 10
Lunchtime: Jason Kendall
Happy Hour: Lovebettie
Opening: Una de Luna
Headliner: Tangerine

Wednesday, June 11
Lunchtime: Entrain
Happy Hour: Jazzam
Headliner: Entrain

Thursday, June 12
Lunchtime: Boca Chica
Happy Hour: Life in Bed
Opening: Derek White and the Monophobics
Headliner: Rustic Overtones

Friday, June 13
Lunchtime: Clark Slater Band
Happy Hour: Rodney McCoy
Headliner: Maceo Parker
Late Night: Omega Love

Saturday, June 14
Lunchtime: Boilermaker Jazz Band
Opening: Gemini
Headliner: Phoebe Snow

Sunday, June 15
Lunchtime: Mon Gumbo
Opening: Takeover UK
Headliner: New York Dolls

Monday, June 16
Lunchtime: CLO Ministars
Happy Hour: CK9 and the Old E Allstars
Opening: Sonji & Black Sun
Headliner: Formula412

Tuesday, June 17
Lunchtime: The Lonely Lights
Happy Hour: Flow Band
Opening Act: Outlaw Nation
Headliner: Israel Vibration

Wednesday, June 18
Lunchtime: Euphonic Brew
Happy Hour: Bohemian Bottom Orchestra
Opening Act: Wino Riot
Headliner: Lotus

Thursday, June 19
Lunchtime: Beagle Brothers
Happy Hour: Jill West and the Blues Attack
Headliner: The Holmes Brothers

Friday, June 20
Lunchtime: Selena Catalina
Happy Hour: Phat Man Dee's Phat Squared
Opening: Joe Grushecky
Headliner: Shelby Lynne
Late Night: Phat Man Dee's Phat Squared Market Square Late Night Show

Saturday, June 21
Lunchtime: UMOJA
Happy Hour: Opek (6 pm)
Opening: Good Brother Earl
Headliner: The Avett Brothers

Sunday, June 22
Lunchtime: Five Guys Named Moe
Opening: Mystic Knights (5 pm)
Headliner: Alejandro Escovedo (6 pm)

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival
The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website www.artsfestival.net.

Download this schedule

Play and Photography Exhibit Expose the Plight of Refugees

2008-05-12T13:30:00Z

PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh Playback Theatre's newest play The Unintended, by Paulo Nzambi, exposes the present-day heart-breaking plight of refugee Afghani children in Pakistan. 4th River presents The Unintended at 8 pm, Friday and Saturday, June 13 and 14, and at 2 pm, Sunday, June 15, 2008, at the Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery at 937 Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh.

An original work produced in partnership with the Pittsburgh Refugee Center, The Unintended represents the second 4th River collaboration between these two groups and the Three Rivers Arts Festival. In 2007, Pittsburgh Refugee Center Executive Director Khadra Mohammed visited Afghani refugees living in Pakistan on a trip facilitated by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. She witnessed children as young as three years old working 12-hour days in factories, with no access to education or health facilities. Upon her return, the Refugee Center commissioned Pittsburgh Playback Theatre to write, produce and perform a play about the plight of these children.

"We have found in the past few years that one of the most effective ways to engage our community is through the arts," says Mohammed. "We want our community to see refugees not as numbers but as people with individual stories that exceed our understanding of poverty and hardship. The script, the actor's nuance of the words, the gesture and the facial expressions bring our refugee stories to life, and to the hearts and minds of our audiences."

Since 1986, Pittsburgh Playback Theatre has developed interactive performances that are custom-designed to meet the needs of audiences and host institutions. Through its work, Pittsburgh Playback Theatre gives voices to people who cannot or do not easily speak for themselves. Past Playback project topics have included the events of September 11, the Holocaust, the stress of working with terminally ill patients, and HIV prevention and awareness. After each performance of The Unintended, Pittsburgh Playback Theatre Founder Roni Ostfield will conduct workshops that help to foster dialogue among audience members, encouraging reflection on what they just saw on stage.

A lawyer by trade, Pittsburgh Playback Theatre company member Paulo Nzambi is also an actor, playwright and poet. Nzambi came to the United States in the 1970s as a refugee from Angola. His work To Suffer the Silence, the story of Darfur refugee Hashim Mersal, was produced as a 2007 4th River Project. To Suffer the Silence was also the product of a collaboration with the Pittsburgh Refugee Center.

Tickets for The Unintended are $5, available at www.artsfestival.net or by calling 412.456.6666.

With The Unintended, an exhibition of photographs from Mohammed's trip titled Forgotten Refugee Children: No Return Home will be on display in the Three Rivers Arts Festival gallery June 13-22, 2008. Gallery hours are 12 noon - 8 pm daily. The gallery is free and open to the public.

Calendar Listings
4th River presents Pittsburgh Playback Theatre in The Unintended by Paulo Nzambi. 8 pm, Friday and Saturday, June 13 & 14, and 2 pm Sunday, June 15, 2008. Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery, 937 Liberty Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh. $5. For tickets, visit www.artsfestival.net or call 412.456.6666.

4th River presents Forgotten Refugee Children: No Return Home. Photographs by Khadra Mohammed, Pittsburgh Refugee Center. June 14-22, 2008. Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery, 937 Liberty Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh. Free. Gallery hours are 12 noon - 8 pm daily.

About the Pittsburgh Refugee Center
The Pittsburgh Refugee Center is an advocacy agency that empowers refugees to become self-sufficient and integrated into their new communities. The work of the PRC is grounded in a service philosophy that encourages and ultimately empowers refugees to take control of their lives by becoming an active participant in planning and managing their own development.

About Pittsburgh Playback Theatre
Pittsburgh Playback Theatre is a professional theatre company that includes some of the most talented actors and directors in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Playback Theatre listens to and reflects the human experience in a way that increases each individual's sense of community and respect for humanity. Pittsburgh Playback Theatre uses improvisational performance to engage the audience in meaningful dialogue.

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival
4th River is a program of the Three Rivers Arts Festival. The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. The 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival runs from June 6-22, 2008. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website www.artsfestival.net.

Download this press release

Pittsburgh Playworks Exposes the Creative Process

2008-05-12T13:30:00Z

PITTSBURGH - 4th River presents Pittsburgh Playworks' Play Development Lab series, featuring readings from plays in development by award-winning local playwrights William Cameron, Jeanne Drennan and Jozef Spychala. From June 16-21, three new plays will be read by professional actors, exposing the playwright's craft and creative process for theatre professionals and audience members alike. All readings will take place at the Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery at 937 Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh.

"Pittsburgh Playworks builds on the processes of the theatre labs from the sixties and eighties in New York City," said Spychala. "These groups were committed to bringing forth diverse artistic voices and positioning the collaboration of playwrights, directors and actors as vital to the development of top-quality theatre experiences."

Violet Sharp by William Cameron is set against the backdrop of one of America's most notorious crimes: the 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping case. Violet Sharp, a 27-year-old domestic servant, is suspected of kidnapping the Lindbergh's infant son. As the police relentlessly pursue her confession, Sharp tries to clear her name while facing her personal demons. Based on extensive research, Violet Sharp mixes fact and speculation to credibly dramatize actual events. Cameron's play is scheduled for two upcoming productions, one at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in October 2008, and a second at Theatre 40, a professional theatre company in Los Angeles, in February 2009. Readings will occur at 7 pm, Tuesday, June 17 and Friday, June 20, 2008.

Jeanne Drennans' 12 Dogs was a 2006 finalist for the National New Play Network's Smith Prize and a 2007 finalist for both the Reva Shriner Prize of Bloomington Playwrights Project and the Lark Play Development Center's Playwrights Week. At a tiny outpost in a post-apocalyptic work some hundred years in the future, a young teacher is trying to nurture and protect a brilliant 17-year-old student. Her efforts to win opportunities for him endanger their home and everyone in it, but in a world where poetry, comic books and particle physics have a power to transport and elevate characters with few choices and grim futures, nothing is impossible. 12 DOGS will be read at 7 pm on Monday, June 16, and Thursday, June 19.

The third play in the series, Jozef Spychala's Bread of Angels, concerns the "clean sweep" of a homeless camp along the banks of the Monongahela River in western Pennsylvania. As city officials strive for "Unity in the CommUNITY," the homeless - many of whom are mentally ill - discover ways to survive that soar beyond self-imposed and socially-subjected limitations. Bread of Angels was workshopped at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and received readings at two off-Broadway stages in New York. Pittsburgh readings take place at 7 pm, Wednesday, June 18, and at 1 pm, Saturday, June 21.

Tickets for Play Development Lab readings are $5. To purchase tickets, go online to www.artsfestival.net, visit the Cultural District Box Office at Theatre Square, or call 412.456.6666.

Playwrights biographies are available upon request.

Calendar Listings
4th River Presents Pittsburgh Playworks Play Development Lab: A Public Reading of Violet Sharp by William Cameron. 7 pm, Tuesday and Friday, June 17 and 20, 2008. Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery, 937 Liberty Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh. $5. For tickets, visit www.artsfestival.net or call 412.456.6666.

4th River Presents Pittsburgh Playworks Play Development Lab: A Public Reading of 12 DOGS by Jeanne Drennan. 7 pm, Monday and Thursday, June 16 and 19, 2008. Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery, 937 Liberty Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh. $5. For tickets, visit www.artsfestival.net or call 412.456.6666.

4th River Presents Pittsburgh Playworks Play Development Lab: A Public Reading of Bread of Angels by Jozef Spychala. 7 pm, Wednesday, June 18, and 1 pm, Saturday, June 21, 2008. Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery, 937 Liberty Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh. $5. For tickets, visit www.artsfestival.net or call 412.456.6666.

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival
4th River is a program of the Three Rivers Arts Festival. The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. The 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival runs from June 6-22, 2008. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website www.artsfestival.net.

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Listen, Learn and Drum Along with panPittsburgh

2008-05-12T13:30:00Z

PITTSBURGH - Take a trip to the tropics as Greater Pittsburgh youth and adults share steel drum music in the fourth annual panPittsburgh Steelband Music Showcase at the 2008 Three Rivers Arts Festival. The summery sounds of steelbands will fill the UPMC Health Plan Family Festival from 2-4 pm, Saturdays and Sundays, June 14-15 and 21-22. The UPMC Health Plan Family Festival, part of the Three Rivers Arts Festival, is located at Hertz Investment Group Plaza at Gateway Center. All performances are free and open to the public.

"Though most people wouldn't expect it, Pittsburgh is home to one of the most recognized steelpan pioneers, Phil Solomon," said panPittsburgh Producer Janera Solomon. "My father shared his love of steelpan music with me, and I hope to spread that love and knowledge through the Pittsburgh community."

The panPittsburgh showcase at the UPMC Health Plan Family Festival will include hands-on demonstrations by steelpan experts in addition to performances by student and professional local steelbands, including ensembles from Frick International Studies Academy, Northside Urban Pathways Charter School, Ambridge Area High School, Lincoln Park Performing Arts High School, Slippery Rock University, and Phil Solomon's own band, Steel Impressions.

Calendar Listing
The Three Rivers Arts Festival presents the panPittsburgh Steelband Music Showcase. 2-4 pm, Saturdays and Sundays, June 14-15 and 21-22, 2008. UPMC Health Plan Family Festival, Hertz Investment Group Plaza at Gateway Center, Downtown Pittsburgh. Free.

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival
The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. The 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival runs from June 6-22, 2008. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website www.artsfestival.net.

Download this press release

Enjoy Free Music on Your Lunch Break

2008-05-12T13:30:00Z

PITTSBURGH - Spice up your lunch with free concerts at the 2008 Three Rivers Arts Festival. Offering a variety of styles and genres from pop to indie rock, the Three Rivers Arts Festival's music events will have enough to please the most discriminating music junkie. Music events begin at 12 pm each day on the Three Rivers Arts Festival Main Stage.

June 6
Blindsider - Indie rock

June 7
Mon Gumbo - Cajun style rhythm and blues

June 8
Kenny Blake - Jazz saxophonist

June 9
Melissa Quinn Band - Country rock

June 11
Entrain - Ethnically-diverse jam rock

June 12
Boca Chica - Delicate indie-folk

June 13
Clark Slater Band - Introspective pop rock

June 14
Boilermaker Jazz Band - Hot jazz and swing

June 15
Mon Gumbo - Cajun style rhythm and blues

June 16
CLO Ministars - Musical song and dance

June 17
The Lonely Lights - Country folk

June 18
Euphonic Brew - Funk jam rock

June 19
Beagle Brothers - Country punk

June 21
UMOJA - African dance and drumming

June 22
Five Guys Named Moe - 12-piece horn-driven show band

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival
The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. The 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival runs from June 6-22, 2008. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website www.artsfestival.net.

Download this press release

Nathan Green Comes Home for his First Outdoor Installation

2008-05-12T13:30:00Z

PITTSBURGH - Schenley High School graduate Nathan Green returns to Pittsburgh for his first major outdoor sculpture installation at the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Dream Machine, a large-scale interactive sculpture, incorporates an array of modified recreational equipment and playing field symbols. Dream Machine opens in Market Square on Friday, June 6, and will be on display through the Three Rivers Arts Festival until June 22, 2008. Exhibit hours are 12 noon to 8 pm daily.

"It's a Festival tradition to present a major public art installation each year," said Festival Executive Director Elizabeth Reiss. "Nate's project embodies two major themes of the 2008 Festival: using materials reclaimed from the waste stream for creative endeavors, and, in a related sense, celebrating the sense of 'do-it-yourself' that is emerging as a theme for contemporary art."

The centerpiece of Dream Machine is an enlarged merry-go-round which functions as a dream machine - a stroboscopic flicker that produces visual stimuli - when it is spun. As the merry-go-round spins, it produces sounds from a modified piano. The sculpture includes additional mechanically-related kinetic objects, which viewers can manipulate to effect the experience of the sculpture. All of the sculptures moving or electrical pieces are either human- or solar-powered.

"I have experimented with similar approaches to interactive sculpture in the past, but only in the context of a private gallery space," said Green. "Working in an outdoor public plaza is an entirely new challenge. This is my first opportunity since high school to present my work in my home town, so I feel privileged to be a part of the Three Rivers Arts Festival."

Green was born in Bennington, Vermont, and moved to Pittsburgh with his family at age 6. He attended Schenley High School and was a frequent participant in Manchester Craftsman's Guild programs. He attended Carnegie Mellon Pre-College programs throughout high school and the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts in 1999. Green earned his bachelor's degree in 2005 from Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, studying art and German. In summer 2007, he was awarded an artist's residency at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, and this past fall completed his first solo exhibition in New York City. Green currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

This exhibition is generously supported by the Fine Foundation.

Calendar Listing
The Three Rivers Arts Festival presents Dream Machine, an interactive sculpture installation by Nathan Green. June 6-22, 2008. Market Square.

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival
The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. The 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival runs from June 6-22, 2008. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website www.artsfestival.net.

Download this press release

Live Music Rocks Market Square For Happy Hour

2008-05-12T13:30:00Z

PITTSBURGH - Not ready to head home after work? Head on over to Market Square for fresh Pittsburgh talent, playing everything from jazz to rock. Performances begin at 5:30 pm unless noted at the Market Square Stage.

June 6
Paul Luc - Folk rock
Poogie Bell Band (9:30 pm) - Soulful jazz funk

June 9
Lohio - Indie pop

June 10
Lovebettie - Alternative rock

June 11
Jazzam - Powerful jazz funk

June 12
Life in Bed - Indie rock

June 13
Rodney McCoy - Jazz violinist
Omega Love (9:30 pm) - Indie dance pop

June 16
CK9 and the Old E Allstars - Funky rhythm and blues

June 17
Flow Band - Roots reggae

June 18
Bohemian Bottom Orchestra - Funky acid-jazz

June 19
Jill West and the Blues Attack - Guitar-driven blues

June 20
Phat Man Dee's Phat Squared (5:30 pm and 9:30 pm) - Lounge-style vaudeville antics

June 21
Opek (6:30 pm) - Avant-garde jazz

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival
The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. The 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival runs from June 6-22, 2008. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website www.artsfestival.net.

Download this press release

Communities Come Together to Celebrate Pittsburgh Hero

2008-05-12T13:30:00Z

PITTSBURGH - Larger-than-life sculptures of Joe Magarac take over Market Square as 4th River presents Magarac Attack. Curated by Artist Upstairs' Tavia LaFollette, Magarac Attack is a celebration of Pittsburgh folk-hero Joe Magarac, the superhuman steel worker, springing from ideas about both the icon and the communy imaginations that he engaged. Magarac Attack opens at Market Square on Saturday, June 14, 2008, and runs through June 20.

Joe Magarac's impressive feats place him in the company of other famous American folk heroes, like John Henry. According to one legend, the eastern European steel worker could work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, doing the work of 29 men. "He was a sort of patron saint of steel workers, credited with suddenly appearing to save the lives of mill-workers in peril," said curator and participating artist LaFollette. "But 'magarac' also means 'jackass' in Polish, so he's a bit of a controversial character. Magarac Attack is about re-inventing the legend."

To create Magarac Attack, LaFollette and collaborators conducted community workshops in Lawrenceville, Braddock, Homestead and the Hill District to gather ideas about the folk icon. The resultant art will incorporate puppetry, sculpture and other media from different artists to honor Joe Magarac's legend and the steel workers who made Pittsburgh the city it is today. The installation will feature work from Pittsburgh artists Emory Biko, Michelle Gregio, LaFollete and the Braddock Youth Project, the team of artists Debbie Bobeck and Kirsten Ervin, and Rivers of Steel. Also featured will be Bob Qualter's paintings on Steel Heritage. A variety of themes, including race, history and gender will be woven into the installation.

Calendar Listing
4th River presents Artist Upstairs' Magarac Attack. June 14-20, 2008. Opening party 6 pm, Saturday, June 14. Market Square. Free.

About the Three Rivers Arts Festival
4th River is a program of the Three Rivers Arts Festival.The mission of the Three Rivers Arts Festival is to connect the community to the arts. The 49th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival runs from June 6-22, 2008. For more information, call the Festival at 412.281.8723 or visit our website www.artsfestival.net.

Download this press release