Culture of Pittsburgh
Since 1990 the Pittsburgh Film Office has marketed the greater southwestern Pennsylvania region as a great location for movie, television and commercial productions.
[2] Pittsburgh Filmmakers teaches media arts and runs three "arthouse" movie theaters and since 1981 the Three Rivers Film Festival has brought national attention to local talent and artists of the region.
The Pittsburgh New Works Festival utilizes local theatre companies to stage productions of original one-act plays by playwrights from all parts of the country.
[4] Pittsburgh literary history goes back to the early 20th century, with dozens of prominent authors, the city for a time was considered more closely identified with literature than with steel.
The Benedum Center and Heinz Hall provide venues for numerous musicals, lectures, speeches, and other performances, including Pittsburgh Opera.
The Teutonia Männerchor, founded in 1854 and based in East Allegheny (Deutschtown) furthers choral singing in German and folk dancing.
There were hundreds of jazz venues in the community, which later helped to promote the emergence of bebop, the most famous was probably the Crawford Grill which nightly attracted top national talent.
A number of musicians came from communities outside the city, including: Maxine Sullivan (Homestead), Sonny Clark (Herminie) and Earl "Fatha" Hines (Duquesne).
[7] Trumpeter Roy Eldridge, drummer Kenneth Spearman "Klook" Clarke, and influential bassist Ray Brown were born in the city; singer Lena Horne was raised in Pittsburgh.
Bassist Paul Chambers, also born in Pittsburgh, played on two of the most important albums in jazz history: Miles Davis' Kind of Blue (1959) and John Coltrane's Giant Steps (1960).
[7] Other noted jazz musicians include: Eric Kloss, Dodo Marmarosa, Walt Harper, Tommy and Stanley Turrentine, Horace Parlan, pianist, Nathan Davis, guitarist George Benson, and drummers Art Blakey, Roger Humphries and Jeff "Tain" Watts.
So influential was Foster's works that he has been called the "Father of American music", has had five films made of his life, has heavily influenced such talents as Nellie Bly and Jackie Gleason and has had two of his songs chosen as state anthems (Kentucky and Florida) as well as the annual selections of Churchill Downs.
During this same era notable solo acts such as Henry Mancini, Perry Como and Bobby Vinton came out of the region to reach world fame in the industry.
During the 1970s and 1980s rock era Pittsburgh had a major role in the success of both Wild Cherry and their most popular song/album Play That Funky Music (inspired by a fan's plea to them during a performance at the North Side's 2001 Club in 1976), and being the home to Bret Michaels, known for his fame in the band Poison.
Singer Christina Aguilera, a student at North Allegheny Intermediate High School, debuted locally at the 1999 Lilith Fair, before going on to sell over 43 million albums worldwide.
Rapper Wiz Khalifa, who signed to Warner Bros. Records but left without releasing an album, topped the iTunes singles chart by the end of the decade.
[8] Since 2010, solo acts such as natives Jackie Evancho, Slimmie Hendrix, Wiz Khalifa, Daya (singer), and Mac Miller have achieved worldwide fame.
While it has historically been low-key, Pittsburgh's Hardcore/Metal scene has also gained international attention since the early 2010s, as witnessed by the critical success of the band Code Orange.
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, located in Oakland, has extensive dinosaur collections on display, including the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered, and an Egyptian wing.
