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51-504: The Kelly Strayhorn Theater produces arts engagement programming for young people and families through its presenting program, KSTPresents. Programming offerings that engage the community include The Alloy School, artSEEDS Student Matinees, and master classes and artist workshops. Through the Producing Partners program, KST provides production, programming and fundraising support to local, community producers and artists who rent

102-700: A "postmodern string band", Sankofa Strings. During that same time period, Giddens was also a regular caller at local contra dances and featured in a Celtic music band called Gaelwynd. Later in 2005, after both Gaelwynd and Sankofa Strings had released CD albums, Giddens and Flemons teamed up with other musicians and expanded the Sankofa Strings sound into what was to become the Grammy winning Carolina Chocolate Drops . In 2007, Giddens contributed fiddle, banjo, "flat-footin'" dancing and additional vocals to Talitha MacKenzie 's album Indian Summer . Performing as

153-607: A black teen from rural Bladenboro, North Carolina . On November 27, 2015, to coincide with the Black Friday Record Store Day event, Giddens released Factory Girl (EP) on Nonesuch Records, which contained music culled from the same T Bone Burnett–produced sessions that yielded Tomorrow Is My Turn . A digital version of Factory Girl was made available December 11, 2015. The sessions for the album and EP took place in Los Angeles and Nashville , with

204-739: A cappella track "We Rise" to the LP We Are Not For Sale: Songs of Protest by the NC Music Love Army – a collective of activist musicians from North Carolina founded by Jon Lindsay and Caitlin Cary . Giddens' protest song joins contributions from many other Carolina musical luminaries on the Lindsay-produced compilation (11/26/13 via Redeye Distribution ), which was created to support the NC NAACP and

255-561: A cover of " St. James Infirmary Blues " with Tom Jones . In January 2016, she was selected to take part in Transatlantic Sessions . This collaboration between American and Celtic musicians is a coveted honor. The ensemble performed as part of Celtic Connections in Glasgow, and a short UK/Irish tour. Her performances on the tour included the stirring tribute to David Bowie "It Ain't Easy". On October 8, 2016, Rhiannon

306-731: A merger was announced between the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty and Dance Alloy. Kelly-Strayhorn would manage daily operations of Dance Alloy and the Dance Alloy School but the dance company itself would not be active. The final Company was under the artistic direction of Greer Reed Jones when it dissolved in 2012. Jones joined the Dance Alloy staff in June 2009. Along with the artistic director

357-717: A multi-generational group of players assembled by Burnett. Musicians on Factory Girl include Burnett; fiddle player Gabe Witcher and double bassist Paul Kowert of Punch Brothers ; percussionist Jack Ashford of Motown's renowned Funk Brothers ; drummer Jay Bellerose ; guitarist Colin Linden ; veteran Nashville session bassist Dennis Crouch; and Giddens's Carolina Chocolate Drops touring band-mates, multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins and beat-boxer Adam Matta . Rhiannon appeared on Jools Holland's Hootenanny on December 31, 2015, shown on BBC Two . She performed songs from her 2015 album Tomorrow Is My Turn , including "Waterboy" and

408-838: A number of family-friendly events, such as the Let's Move! Family Dance Party, Halloween Mayhem, and East Liberty Celebrates MLK Day. The Kelly Strayhorn Theater merged with the Pittsburgh Dance Alloy in 2011. As a part of the merge, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater continued Pittsburgh Dance Alloy's community education program, The Alloy School. The Alloy School is a creative and non-competitive community for children, families, and adults. The Alloy School offers movement-focused classes that include pre-ballet, African dance, creative movement, hip-hop, family yoga, and acting. Creative Community residency projects support

459-458: A social worker and gospel singer who is a significant character in Juliette's storyline. Giddens appeared in 11 episodes and performed several songs that have been made available following each episode. Giddens is featured in the 2024 documentary Cover Your Ears produced by Prairie Coast Films and directed by Sean Patrick Shaul , discussing music censorship. Giddens is featured in

510-436: A soprano, Giddens and mezzo-soprano Cheryse McLeod Lewis formed a duo called Eleganza to release a CD in 2009. Because I Knew You... consists of classical, religious, theater, and movie music. Giddens and Lewis were middle school classmates who reconnected after college while working in the same office. The friends started singing together in 2003, but did not begin recording until 2008. As of November 12, 2013, Giddens became

561-958: Is a 1995 alumna of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics , and a 2000 graduate of Oberlin Conservatory at Oberlin College , where she studied opera. In 2005, Giddens, who at that time was spending time participating in Scottish traditional music competitions (specializing in the Gaelic lilting tradition, also known as mouth music), attended the Black Banjo Then and Now Gathering, in Boone, North Carolina . There she met Dom Flemons and Súle Greg Wilson. The three started playing together professionally as

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612-500: Is realized in partnership with community partners located in and around the city of Pittsburgh. The theater itself serves as a cultural hub for the Pittsburgh neighborhood of East Liberty and Pittsburgh's East End. In 2015, the theater instituted system called “Pay What Makes You Happy” which allows patrons to set their own price for all KST Presents performances and events. The Kelly Strayhorn Theater, built in 1914 and originally

663-703: The BBC Radio 2 Blues Show while its regular host Cerys Matthews was on her holidays. Giddens earned an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for her lasting impact on the UNCG community and work in music. She sang "Calling me Home" by Alice Gerrard at a virtual commencement after accepting the degree in December 2020. In 2023, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music from Princeton University. In 2023, Giddens joined

714-596: The Cambridge Folk Festival by inviting Peggy Seeger , Kaia Kater , Birds of Chicago , Amythyst Kiah, and Yola Carter to perform at the event. Giddens recorded vocals for Silo Songs , an audio installation created by composer Brad Wells for Hancock Shaker Village . She contributed a song, "Mountain Hymn", to the popular video game Red Dead Redemption 2 which was released in October 2018. The song

765-591: The Moral Monday movement. In early 2014, Giddens recorded for Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes alongside Elvis Costello , Marcus Mumford , Taylor Goldsmith and Jim James . The album was produced by T Bone Burnett and is a compilation of partial, unreleased lyrics written by Bob Dylan . In February 2015, Giddens released her debut solo album, Tomorrow Is My Turn , on Nonesuch Records . Also produced by Burnett,

816-587: The Pittsburgh Dance Council and guest artists Murray Louis , Kathryn Posin and Dan Wagoner. The first concert was performed in December 1976 at the Stephen Foster Memorial Theater and was directed by company choreographer, Rebecca Rice. The Dance Alloy moved off-campus in 1980, and two years later Susan Gillis and Elsa Limbach were named co-artistic directors. Limbach became sole artistic director in 1984 and moved

867-569: The 2020 Spoleto Festival USA , Rhiannon Giddens was commissioned to create an opera based on the Arabic language autobiography of Omar Ibn Said , a highly literate and cultured Torodbe (Muslim cleric) from the Fula people of modern Senegal , who was enslaved in an intertribal war against the Imamate of Futa Toro and brought aboard a slave ship to Charleston, South Carolina in 1807. Giddens wrote

918-719: The 2022 documentary Black Fiddlers next to Justin Robinson. Produced by Heritage Film Project and directed by Eduardo Montes-Bradley . In the film Giddens shares her memories of Joe Thomson and Odell Thomson. Rhiannon Giddens has announced that she will have four children's books published by Candlewick Press . The first two books, scheduled for release in Fall 2022, are based on the lyrics of her songs "Build A House" and "We Could Fly" with illustrations by Monica Mikai and Briana Mukodiri Uchendu respectively. Giddens married Irish traditional musician Michael Laffan in 2007. They have

969-628: The Nashville Ballet announced that Rhiannon Giddens has been commissioned to write the music for Lucy Negro, Redux , a new dance choreographed by artistic director, Paul Vasterling. Based on the book of the same name by Caroline Randall Williams , its premise is that Shakespeare's Dark Lady was of African descent. The ballet premiered in February 2019. Then, in March 2018, Giddens fulfilled a previously announced engagement as guest curator for

1020-695: The One (2023). She appears in the Smithsonian Folkways collection documenting Mike Seeger 's final trip through Appalachia in 2009, Just Around The Bend: Survival and Revival in Southern Banjo Styles – Mike Seeger's Last Documentary (2019). In 2014, she participated in the T Bone Burnett -produced project titled The New Basement Tapes along with several other musicians, which set a series of recently discovered Bob Dylan lyrics to newly composed music. The resulting album, Lost on

1071-541: The Regent Theater, is located in the heart of East Liberty. The Kelly Strayhorn Theater is a performance space that seats 350. The theater's lobby space hosts events, receptions and pre- and post-show conversations. The Alloy Studios (formerly Dance Alloy) is located on Penn Avenue. Two dance and performance studio spaces provide a place for creation, education, and ongoing partnership programs. The Alloy Studios opened in 1995 as Dance Alloy. The construction of

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1122-452: The Regent again closed. In the mid 1980s, the theater underwent renovations and reopened in 1995. The Regent largely served as a concert space before closing again in 1997. The current theater reopened in 2001 and was renamed to honor Gene Kelly and Billy Strayhorn. A commemorative “Walk of Stars” (curated by Teresa Trich) recognizing artists, friends, fans, and family members of the theater

1173-636: The River: The New Basement Tapes , was a top-40 Billboard album. In 2023, the opera Omar , co-written by Giddens and Michael Abels , won the Pulitzer Prize for Music . Giddens is of multiracial ancestry. Her father, David Giddens, is European-American . Her mother, Deborah Jamieson, is a descendant of African Americans and Native American tribes including the Lumbee , Occaneechi , and Seminole . Giddens does not claim any specific tribal affiliation. David and Deborah met as college students in

1224-482: The album includes songs made famous by Patsy Cline , Odetta , Dolly Parton , and Nina Simone , among others. The Wall Street Journal said the album "confirms the arrival of a significant talent whose voice and distinctive approach communicate the simmering emotion at the core of the songs." Additionally, the Los Angeles Times called the album "a collection that should solidify her status as one of

1275-516: The bright new lights in pop music." In July 2015, she had a big stage at world music folk and dance festival at TFF Rudolstadt in Germany. Her performance was also broadcast live by the German national public radio Deutschlandfunk . Rhiannon appears on Jon Lindsay 's single "Ballad of Lennon Lacy" ( Redeye Distribution , August 21). The song tackles the mysterious hanging death of Lennon Lacy ,

1326-605: The city of Greensboro, North Carolina . Giddens' parents separated soon after her birth, when Deborah came out as a lesbian. Rhiannon and her sister Lalenja grew up in Greensboro and nearby rural Gibsonville . Lalenja Harrington is a director for Beyond Academics, a four-year certificate program supporting students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro . A singer and songwriter herself, Harrington occasionally collaborates with her sister on musical projects. Giddens

1377-480: The company also employed five contracted dancers, including Maribeth Maxa, Stephanie Dumaine, Christopher Bandy, Michael Walsh and Adrienne Misko. Rhiannon Giddens Rhiannon Giddens (born February 21, 1977) is an American musician known for her eclectic folk music . She is a founding member of the country , blues , and old-time music band the Carolina Chocolate Drops , where she

1428-983: The company to studio space in the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh . Established New York choreographer Mark Taylor became artistic director in 1991 and the company continued to grow, touring extensively both nationally and internationally, and offering dance classes in the community. In 1995 it expanded again, under the executive director Stephanie Flom, building its own state-of-the-art studios and employing six full-time dancers as well as numerous technical staff and arts administrators. Dance Alloy's repertory included works by Claudia Gitelman, Lynn Dally, Kathryn Posin, Carolyn Brown , Elsa Limbach, Susan Gillis, Mark Dendy, Eiko & Koma , Bill T. Jones , José Limón , Victoria Marks , Charles Moulton , Mark Taylor, Douglas Nielson, Tere O'Connor , Pilobolus , Bill Evans , Rebecca Rice Flanagan, J Michael Kane, Gail Stepanek, Jerry Pearson and Elizabeth Streb . In 2003, Beth Corning

1479-407: The conference consists of performances, dance parties, creative workshops, classes and conversations with artists. An annual program created in honor of Billy Strayhorn, which includes film screenings, performances, and discussions exploring the life experiences of queer people of color. A festival featuring contemporary independent female artists across various disciplines. Events occurring during

1530-531: The course of the festival include concerts, performances, talks, workshops, parties and more. Past festivals have included visiting artists Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops , author Rebecca Walker , and composer Samita Sinha, as well as Pittsburgh artists Joy Ike, Dr. Goddess, Shaina Wallace, SolSis, Stacyee Pearl, and Bhangra Bash with DJ Rekha . Recurring events include Suite Life: A Tribute to Billy Strayhorn, Full Bloom Summer Dance Party, and East Liberty Live! The Kelly Strayhorn Theater hosts

1581-540: The creation of new works built around the neighborhood context, history, legacy, and character. Artists in these residencies offer active public engagement activities, including community meals and gatherings, conversations, workshops and master classes. The residency brings residents, neighborhood organizers, local agencies and other partners to engage with artists. An accelerator program for emerging artists and entrepreneurs, Penn Avenue Creative offers emerging creative leaders network development and mentorship. Members of

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1632-426: The early development of jazz during the post WWI era. In January 2018, Giddens co-produced (with Dirk Powell ) Songs of Our Native Daughters for Smithsonian Folkways . Written and recorded with fellow artists Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla , and Allison Russell, "The album confronts the ways we are culturally conditioned to avoid talking about America's history of slavery, racism, and misogyny." Also in early 2018,

1683-598: The libretto and served as lead composer with help from co-composer Michael Abels . Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic , the world premiere of Omar was postponed until 2022. It received the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music. In July 2020, Giddens was named Artistic Director of the cross-cultural music organization Silkroad (arts organization) . The position had been vacant since 2017 when Silkroad's founder, Yo-Yo Ma , stepped down. On August 17, 2020, Giddens guest-hosted

1734-449: The multiuse space was a part of larger revitalization efforts in Pittsburgh's Garfield neighborhood. The space is equipped with two professional dance studios with marley-sprung floors. KST Presents is the theater's original programming series featuring dance, theater, film, performance art, and literary art performances that provide a multicultural experience. Fresh Works is KST's creative learning program for Pittsburgh-based artists. In

1785-663: The newMoves Contemporary Dance Festival, which features new work in dance, and World Stage, which supports new performances by international artists, have helped the theater gain local and national recognition. Artists presented by KST include: Kyle Abraham , Suli Holum, Jaamil Kosoko, Camille A. Brown , Vanessa German , Kate Watson Wallace, Bill Shannon , Luke Murphy, and Stacey Pearl, all of whom have had extensive creative or production residencies in support of new work at KST. In addition, KST Presents includes support for emerging artists in film, poetry and visual arts: Chris Ivey, Alisha Wormsley , and Joy KMT. All of KST's programming

1836-532: The only original member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. In 2013, Giddens began pushing further into her solo career. Giddens participated in "Another Day, Another Time", a concert inspired by the Coen brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis . Many critics have stated that Giddens had the best performance at what was called "the concert of the year". Late in 2013, Giddens contributed the standout

1887-608: The past." Rhiannon further demonstrated the broad range of her musical interests with several subsequent projects. In early November, she performed as a soprano with the Louisville Orchestra in Teddy Abrams ' multimedia tribute to Muhammad Ali , The Greatest . A week later, she sang with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra for their live recording of American Originals: 1918 , which explored

1938-429: The playback of these direct-to-disc recordings, she exclaimed "you feel like your soul is coming out of the speaker." In October 2017, Giddens was named one of the 2017 class of MacArthur "Genius" Fellows . The organization noted, "Giddens's drive to understand and convey the nuances, complexities, and interrelationships between musical traditions is enhancing our musical present with a wealth of sounds and textures from

1989-436: The program, artists receive 80 hours at The Alloy Studios to research, explore, play, and create a work-in-progress performance for audience input. newMoves is an annual festival for contemporary dance making that began in 2009. newMoves provides opportunities for dance artists to share new ideas and new work and engage in dialogue with audiences. The festival features local, national, and international artists. Programming for

2040-499: The programming lineup at Wondrium leading the series "The Banjo: Music, History and Heritage." In 2022, Giddens was named the musical director of the 2023 Ojai Music Festival . On 7th July 2024, Giddens and her band headlined the Gate to Southwell Festival. In 2017 and 2018, Giddens appeared in the fifth and sixth seasons of the CMT 's Nashville as Hannah Lee "Hallie" Jordan,

2091-795: The residency cohort work to catalyze sites along the Penn Avenue Corridor, the street in which the Kelly Strayhorn Theater and Alloy Studios are located. Futuremakers is an interactive series of events that invites key leaders, community members, and stakeholders to engage with Penn Avenue Creative fellows around the future of Penn Avenue. The Futuremakers Symposium takes place in May and invites local and national leaders to discuss building and maintaining community in neighborhoods undergoing revitalization. Theatre in Pittsburgh Dance Alloy Dance Alloy

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2142-510: The time she was done, she had systematically dismantled the myth of a homogenous Appalachia." In June 2017, Giddens appeared in the multi award-winning documentary The American Epic Sessions , directed by Bernard MacMahon , where she recorded "One Hour Mama" and English folk ballad " Pretty Saro ", on the restored first electrical sound recording system from the 1920s. Both performances were released on Music from The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack . Upon hearing

2193-461: The venues for productions and events. The Kelly Strayhorn Theater originally opened in 1914 as the 1,100 seat Regent Theatre, a silent film movie house. Designed by architect Harry S. Bair, it featured a grand theater organ that provided live music to the films. The theater was closed by the 1950s but had a grand reopening as an 850-seat theater on July 18, 1965 following a $ 175,000 renovation under Ernest Stern's Associated Theaters. In October 1979,

2244-418: The wings or the sides of the stage, and the fourth wall is the barrier between the audience and the stage. This is the wall that Dance Alloy tried to break, the point being to completely engage the audience in the performance. They also set goals to immerse themselves in the community surrounding Dance Alloy, and they achieved this by offering dance education to adults and children of all ages. On June 27, 2012,

2295-567: Was a modern dance repertory company based in the Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania 's neighborhood of Friendship . It suspended operations in 2012 following a merger with the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater . The Pittsburgh Dance Alloy was founded in 1976 at the University of Pittsburgh as an artistic collective of nine dancers. Margaret Skrinar, Director of Dance, was the founder with the help of Yolanda Marino and Mary Goodman of

2346-603: Was announced that Giddens and the Carolina Chocolate Drops would be inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame . In 2017, Giddens became only the fourth musician to perform at both the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. Later that year, she delivered the keynote address at the World of Bluegrass Business Conference 2017. According to Bluegrass Today, "Giddens shattered long-held stereotypes...By

2397-468: Was chosen to be the next artistic director. Corning was the force behind the reconstruction of the company, and "changed its name to better reflect the diversity of this genre." The last Artistic Director was Greer Reed-Jones. Dance Alloy's mission was something called "Breaking the Fourth Wall." The back wall, when the audience looks at the stage, is referred to as the upstage. The next two walls are

2448-651: Was featured on Austin City Limits . Later in 2016, Giddens became the first American to be honored as Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards , and it was announced that she would be receiving the prestigious Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass . Winning this award makes Giddens both the only woman and the only person of color to receive the prize in its six-year history. Also in 2016, it

2499-439: Was installed at its entrance. The theater started original programming in 2008 and merged with Dance Alloy in the nearby Friendship neighborhood in the fall of 2011. In 2008, janera solomon was appointed as the theater's executive director. Under her leadership, the theater expanded to increase its original programming and funding. Kelly Strayhorn Theater is now recognized as a progressive cultural center. Its programs, such as

2550-493: Was the lead singer, fiddle player, and banjo player. Giddens is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina . In addition to her work with the Grammy -winning Chocolate Drops, Giddens has released five solo albums: Tomorrow Is My Turn (2015) and Freedom Highway (2017), 2019 and 2021's There Is No Other and They're Calling Me Home (both collaborations with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi ), and You're

2601-570: Was written with Daniel Lanois . In December 2018, she began hosting a podcast called Aria Code with Rhiannon Giddens produced by the Metropolitan Opera and WQXR-FM . The program examines why individual arias have a lasting impact on audiences and how singers prepare to perform them. In 2019, Giddens released two studio albums: Songs of Our Native Daughters with Allison Russell , Leyla McCalla and Amythyst Kiah, and There Is No Other with Italian musician Francesco Turrisi. For

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