{"id":442974,"date":"2023-09-13T16:36:55","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T20:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/?p=442974"},"modified":"2023-09-14T07:13:39","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T11:13:39","slug":"different-cities-different-voices-pittsburgh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/nmbx\/different-cities-different-voices-pittsburgh\/","title":{"rendered":"Different Cities Different Voices – Pittsburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marina L\u00f3pez<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Marina

Marina L\u00f3pez<\/p><\/div>\n

In Pittsburgh we live and breathe every day amongst the ruins of the furnaces in which the foundations of this great nation were forged. The people of this city tell stories about their fathers and grandfathers working at these furnaces; the hell on earth upon which the skyscrapers of New York and Chicago were born. (I highly recommend my teacher Leonardo Balada\u2019s Steel Symphony<\/em> to get a sense of what these places sounded like.)<\/p>\n

Through the 1970s and ’80s, as the steel industry moved abroad, the city shrank and had to reinvent itself. Today, it likes to picture itself a high-tech university hub. And this intersection: this cross-pollination and tension between Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Google, Duolingo, Carnegie Robotics; the descendants of the Polish, Irish, and Czech immigrants who were murdered at the Homestead Massacre; the black Pittsburghers that were displaced from the jazz mecca that once was Hill District; and the immigrants (like myself) who happen upon this beautiful city to pursue some version of the American dream\u2014this is the canvas upon which this city\u2019s artists create.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh has a wealth of both jazz and classically trained performers. It also has an outstanding number of music organizations and ensembles. The city is still relatively affordable, and has a strong DIY arts and music community.<\/p>\n

I immigrated here back in 2011. I would\u2019ve never guessed that twelve years later I\u2019d find myself entrenched in a loving community of DIY artists, classically trained musicians, local bands, jazz performers, poets, activists, and beautiful friends.<\/p>\n

I finished graduate school right before the pandemic hit. Like many others, I felt the inertia of my career come to a stand still as the world shut down. The past three years I\u2019ve been getting back into the rhythm of applications and performances, and renegotiating the value of my art and my career in the larger context of my life, my home, and the current state of the world.<\/p>\n

I think one of the biggest challenges many composers like myself face is getting our name out there when we don\u2019t live in a major coastal cultural hub, and aren\u2019t enrolled in the best known doctoral programs. There is a lack of access in the new music community. If you don\u2019t have the money to attend music festivals early on in your career, you will miss out on vital connections to propel your career forward. Speaking out and finding ways to make this career path something feasible for all people of all socioeconomic backgrounds is something I\u2019m passionate about.<\/p>\n

Music picks…<\/em><\/p>\n

me…<\/p>\n