Kelly Strayhorn Theater

04/04/2025

ATTENTION: Applications for our 25 /26 Freshworks Residency are closing THIS SUNDAY, April 6, at 11:59pm! ✨🤩

Collect all your resources, put your finishing touches on your applications, and don't miss the deadline! 📖🖋️

Click the link in our bio to learn more. 🎶🔗

📸: Lindsay B. Garvin

04/01/2025

Our friends at the Center for Ethnic Studies Research are hosting their 2025 LatinxConnect Conference this week from April 3 - 5th! 🌍⚡

Join scholars and participants from around the world to explore Latinidad and envision thriving futures. This year’s theme, ¡Com(o)unidad! (Com)unidade, (Comm)unity: State of the People, invites bold dialogue, deep reflection, and meaningful connection.

Our Freshworks artist Zuly Inirio's performance of La Voz que Soy THIS Friday & Saturday, April 4 - 5 at KST's Alloy Studios is a featured event for the conference! She was also the Associate Director / Co-Director for the Center for Ethnic Studies Research.

Be sure to check out the impactful programming this weekend! 🙌🏽

03/28/2025

We danced, we sang, and we laughed all while paying homage to the remarkable legacy of Whitney Houston. ✨💜

Congratulations to musical director Dwayne Fulton, lead vocalists Mychole Starr, Chantal Joseph, Anqwenique, Anita Levels, and Kylie Edwards, with support from Katy Cotten, Delana Flowers, and Carmen Miller of the BGVs! 🎶🥁

This all-star ensemble immersed attendees into Whitney’s world with hits ranging from I’m Your Baby Tonight to Heartbreak Hotel, and more! Powerful voices, triumphant musicians, and neon lights made this a night to remember for many. 😍🤩

Thank you to the art lovers and Whitney enthusiasts who shared this moment with us at our theater. 🖤

Relive the night and check out the photo albums from Delaney Greenburg and Beth Barbis. 📸

03/25/2025

03/21/2025

Freshworks Artist, Zuly Inirio journeys through La Voz que Soy at KST's Alloy Studios on April 4th and April 5th at 7:30PM! 💖🎤

La Voz que Soy, or The Voice I Am is Zuly's powerful reinterpretation of the 1958 French opera La voix humaine. 🎶

The multidisciplinary performance uses the opera’s original framework—revisiting her past love through a final phone call—to explore colonialism, double consciousness, Black womanhood, and the African diaspora’s legacy. 🫶🏽

🎟️ available via the link in our bio.
📸 Anthony Peterson

03/14/2025

Emerging artists in the Pittsburgh area! Have you submitted your application for our 2025/2026 Freshworks residency yet? 🎶👯👨‍🎨

Don't miss the chance to receive a TWO NIGHT performance at KST Alloy Studios, studio space, production support, and a resource budget! Applications are open NOW and will close on Sunday, April 6 at 11:59pm. 📝

More info and application via the link in our bio. 🔗

03/13/2025

ATTENTION WHITNEY: A Tribute Concert with Dwayne Fulton ( )is officially sold out!! 🎶🔔.

Congrats to the entire ensemble of all star peformers and let’s get ready to dance with somebody THIS SATURDAY!! ♥️👯‍♀️

To celebrate, let’s hear from Carmen Miller (.o.t.u.s_78 ) of the .sing about her favorite Whitney Houston memory. ✨🤩

“Whitney Houston is one of my favorite female vocalists of all time. One of the first songs I ever sang was “The Greatest Love of All”. The emotions I felt from the lyrics combined with her timeless and classic vocals has been a source of inspiration for me. My husband and I are high school sweethearts. Songs like, “Saving All My Love for You” and “I Believe in You and Me” have been a special part of our love story as I serenade my husband during our anniversary each year. Whitney’s music has been woven into key moments in my life. This tribute is the perfect culmination of my experiences with her music. It is an honor to celebrate her legacy.”

See everyone Saturday, March 15! ☺️

03/12/2025

From our Friends!

03/07/2025

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening reception of Lifting Liberty, created by Njaimeh Njie ()! ⚡🙌🏽

Our lobby walls are now adorned with stunning images that celebrate the cultural treasures of East Liberty. Check out the visuals, reminisce about your favorite memories, and share any stories about your go-to spots in the neighborhood! 💙

In case you missed it, we revealed details about Owning Our Future: A Symposium on BIPOC Institutional Ownership. The four-day event will be complete with panels, keynote speakers, performances, a neighborhood trolley tour, and an augmented reality app that will allow you to experience East Liberty from the lens of the past. Mark your calendars and join us for the symposium on May, 15 - May 18! 🤩🔮

📸 Be sure to check out the full photo album from the event by Randall Coleman.

03/06/2025

It’s time for a sneak peek of the powerful programming planned for the national Owning Our Future Symposium! 🔮🌎✨

Whether you’re an arts administrator, urban planner, philanthropic leader, real estate developer, or simply passionate about the power of the arts, join KST for an inspiring symposium in Pittsburgh, PA that reimagines the future of cultural spaces—accessible, equitable, and rooted in the strength of BIPOC communities. Dynamic keynotes and panels highlighting emergent models of ownership encompass the four day event capped by performances on the mainstage and in the KST Lounge.

The programs highlight community change makers from Pittsburgh and beyond at the vanguard of BIPOC Institutional ownership. 🤩🔥

Speakers and Artists include: A.I.M by Kyle Abrahamm, Khamil Bailey, Balafon West African Dance Ensemble with Oronde S. Sharif, Terri Baltimore, Sidra Bell Dance New York, Giselle Byrd, Veronica Corpuz, Jesse Factor, Jasmine Hearn, Ken Ikeda, Chris Ivey, Tomashi Jackson, Adrian Jones, Shaddai Livingston, Kilolo Luckett, Adil Mansoor, Jonathan McCrory, Njaimeh Njie, Avanelle “AJ” No Braid, PearlArts Movement & Sound, Cierra Peters, Andy Shallal, slowdanger, Shyla Spicer, Alisha Wormsley, Jasiri X, Lisa Yancey, and more! 🎶🎨👯‍♀️

🎟️ Tickets on sale now via the link in our bio!

***rarts

03/06/2025

🔹We're excited to have slowdanger in the house at KST's Alloy Studios. 🔹

This past week non-binary dance duo slowdanger set up shop in our downstairs studio to plan and cultivate their latest work in development STORY BALLET. 🟢

The work is a surreal dance theater performance that examines Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, re-contextualizing the tale into an evening-length performance exploring the intersection of mental health de-stigmatization and perception, begging the question, what holds us together?

Keep an eye out because the work premieres at KST in Fall 2026. 🔥👀

03/01/2025

Are you thinking about applying to KST's Freshworks residency? 👀 Monday, March 3 is the Early Submission Deadline to receive feedback for your Freshworks application! Many artists in the past found the feedback extremely helpful. 🥰

We welcome emerging artists in the greater Pittsburgh area to apply! The program provides guidance, studio space, production staff, lighting and sound design, and encouragement for creative risk-taking. 🎭

The residency includes...
✨ $1000 honorarium per artist
✨ $1500 Resource budget
✨ Studio time

https://kelly-strayhorn.org/community/freshworks/

A recorded Freshworks Residency Info Session is now available to rewatch.

Important Dates 📆
▪️Monday, March 3: Early Submission Deadline for Feedback
▪️Sunday, April 6: Application Closes



Photo: Diving Within by Andraya Rand-Mathis, Freshworks Fall 2023 📷 Chad Isaiah

02/27/2025

🎶 DJ SMI of The Shadow Lounge in East Liberty will be spinning tunes at the Lifting Liberty opening reception TOMORROW, February 27 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm! 🎶

Lifting Liberty by Njaimeh Njie is a collage, photo, and text meditation on the legacy of Black cultural spaces in East Liberty. The visual art exhibition will explore spaces from Howe School of Dance to the Selma Burke Art Center to the Shadow Lounge. ⚡🤩

The Shadow Lounge was an emporium of creative essence for the Black community in East Liberty from 2000 to 2013, and we are excited to have DJ SMI uplift the legacy of the neighborhood with us. 🙌 🔥

🎫 via the link in bio.

02/25/2025

Interested in applying for Freshworks, KST's creative residency for emerging artists in the greater Pittsburgh area?

Join KST Programming Manager Sarah Gilmer for an online info session about the program and the 2025/2026 application process. Previous Freshworks artists Arnita Simone (Fall 2024) and Anna King Skeels (Winter/Spring 2024) will join to answer questions about their experiences in the program.

This Facebook Live will be available to view online after the initial broadcast.

02/21/2025

🪩 FLASHBACK TO SOME OF OUR PREVIOUS TRIBUTE SHOWS 🪩

Over the past few years, we have been honored to pay tribute to musical legends such as Tina Turner, Prince, and Aretha Franklin with the musical direction of Dwayne Fulton!

Those shows brought passionate energy, and fire tunes to the stage of our theater. ❤️

Were you at those performances?

If so then you know you're in for a real treat when it comes to WHITNEY: A tribute with Dwayne Fulton. Seats are going fast for this don't-miss performance on Saturday, March 15. 🎶

🎫: https://bit.ly/kstwhitneytribute

02/20/2025

We're so excited to have multimedia artist Njaimeh Njie bringing the visual art gallery Lifting Liberty to our theater! She is already busy at work prepping for the installation of the exhibit. 🖼️ ⚡

When asked about her work Njie said “In my work, I tell stories about everyday life, particularly everyday black experiences through the lense of how the past shapes the present. That involves a lot of archival research, learning about the past through the people who have lived it” ❤️

The opening reception for Lifting Liberty is one week away on Thursday, February 27 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Come check it out, and receive updates on our Symposium, Owning Our Future, from Thursday, May 15 to Sunday, May 18. 🙌

Can't wait to see you there! 🤩
🎫 : https://bit.ly/kstliftingliberty