Traffic Notice for Pgh JazzLive Festival

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Cory Cope, Flyspace Productions, 724-544-0404/cory@flyspaceproductions.com
Shaunda Miles, Director of Public Relations, 412-471-1578/Miles@TrustArts.org    
  
PITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST ANNOUNCES
TRAFFIC NOTICE FOR THE
PITTSBURGH JAZZLIVE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

June 20 – 22, 2014 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Cultural District

Pittsburgh, PA—The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents the 4th Annual Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival, a project of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, being held June 20–22 in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.
This festival, aimed at connecting the community to jazz, will bring prominent jazz musicians and visual artists to Pittsburgh’s Cultural District to present Grammy-winning performers, jazz and jazz-influenced musical performances, and visual art. More than 20,000 visitors will visit the Cultural District to partake in this year’s event.

To ensure that residents and visiting festival attendees can experience a safe and enjoyable environment over the course of the three days, please be aware of the following traffic and parking provisions. Most major streets leading into and out of downtown’s Cultural District remain open to traffic before, during, and following the event.

For the safety of our guests and participants in the JazzLive Festival, the following street closures will occur around the Cultural District:

WEEKEND CLOSURES, the following temporary closures take place from 6pm Friday, June 20, to midnight Sunday, June 22, unless otherwise noted:

• 9th Street from Penn Avenue to Liberty Avenue will be closed beginning at 10am.
• Penn Avenue is closed from Courtyard Pittsburgh Downtown to 7th Street.
• 8th Street is closed from Liberty Avenue to parking lot entrances between Ft. Duquesne Boulevard and Penn Avenue.
• Exchange Way is closed from Garrison Place to Tito Way.
• Garrison Place is closed from Exchange Way to French Street.
• French Street is closed from Garrison Place to 9th Street.
• No parking at the 9th Street & Penn Avenue lot June 20–22.
• No parking at the 8th Street & Penn Avenue lots June 19–23.
• Liberty Avenue will not be closed.

PLEASE ALSO NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

• Access to all parking garages will be open and will not be impeded by the road closures.

Parking and Transportation
For information about parking lots and garages in the Cultural District, visit ParkPGH.org.
Parking information is also available through Downtown Pittsburgh Partnership website:
http://www.downtownpittsburgh.com/getting-around/parking.

The Cultural District is serviced by public transportation options through the Port Authority of Allegheny County. For information on Port Authority bus stops that may be affected by the street closures, please call the Port Authority Customer Service center at (412) 442-2000 or the TTY number (412) 231-7007, for the speech and hearing impaired, or visit PortAuthority.org.

About Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival
The Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival (PJLIF) is a production of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The Festival features local, emerging and national and international musicians in a variety of performance settings, including outdoor performance stages and indoor performance locations within local restaurants, coffee shops and galleries. For more information, visit TrustArts.org/JazzLiveFest.

About the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh’s most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country’s largest land masses “curated” by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh’s quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Cultural Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts. For more information, visit TrustArts.org.

Follow us on Twitter @CulturalTrust, and like us on Facebook.
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Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Call for Volunteers for Arts and Jazz Festivals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Today's date: May 16, 2013
Media Contacts:
Shaunda Miles, 412-471-1578, miles@trustarts.org
Diana Roth, 412-471-8717, roth@trustarts.org

Call For Volunteers/Volunteer Opportunities

Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival

June 7-16, 2013

&

Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival

June 7-9, 2013

Pittsburgh, PA:  The 54th annual Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival and 3rd annual Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival are looking for volunteers!  The Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival will be held June 7-16, 2013 in the streets, open spaces, galleries and historic plazas of downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, Gateway Center, and Point State Park. Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival will be held June 7-9 at various locations in the Cultural District.

Every year the success of the Festivals depend on the help of hundreds of volunteers.  There are volunteer positions for nearly every age, interest and ability. From heavy lifting to easy sitting, there’s something for you!  Volunteers will also be given an official volunteer t-shirt to wear while helping during the Festival. Most volunteer shifts last about four hours.  The Festivals need volunteers every day. Individuals, students, groups and families are all encouraged to help, and may choose one shift or multiple shifts.

Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival-Volunteer Opportunities, June 7-16, 2013
Volunteers are needed as information booth concierges, green team, artist booth sitters, roving concierges, activity assistants, gallery assistants, artist hospitality room monitors and loading assistants.

Info Booth Concierges:  Paired with a Arts Festival employee, concierges assist with overflow and general questions (Where are the bathrooms?  Where are the food  booths?)

Booth Sitters:  Artist Market Booth Sitters are responsible for relieving artists who have signed up for a 15-minute slot, in order to run errands, get food, and go to the bathroom.  Booth sitters do not make sales.

Roving Concierges:  Outfitted in a Arts Festival VOLUNTEER t-shirt, Roving Concierges will walk the festival footprint answering questions and being helpful to all Arts Festival patrons.

Creativity Zone and Children’s Activities Assistant: Activities Assistants will help children with crafts and activities in the Giant Eagle Creativity Zone and at the Gateway Center fountain.  Volunteers for this must have state clearances.

Gallery Assistant: Gallery Assistants assist the staff at the Visual Arts Galleries throughout the Cultural District.  They answer patron’s questions, monitor attendance and help ensure that the art is not damaged.

Artist Hospitality Room Monitor: The Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival will be hosting a hospitality room for artists and their assistants in the Wyndham Grand Hotel.  The artist hospitality room monitor will check credentials to ensure that only artists and their assistants enter.  They will also monitor the light refreshments and the cleanliness of the space.

Loading Assistants:  Loading Assistants help artists find their booths and assist with loading and unloading vehicles. This position requires some heavy lifting and can be labor-intensive.

Green Team Volunteers: Green Team volunteers are needed to help continue the Festival’s efforts again this year promoting environmentally responsible practices.  A variety of ‘green team’ volunteer opportunities are available.

Thanks to support from the Colcom Foundation, the Festival has been able to earn a GOLD Standard Accreditation from Pennsylvania Resources Council’s Zero Waste Pittsburgh initiative and diversify its efforts from recycling trash to promoting bicycling, providing onsite environmental education and reducing reliance on plastics. This year the Festival will continue leading practices, through the Foundation’s generous support, with a world-class composting and recycling system-one of the first and largest in the nation which helps divert more than 80% of trash from landfills annually.  The Festival also offers free bicycle valet service to encourage eco-friendly transportation to and from downtown and free water stations that encourage refilling personal containers to reduce waste.

Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival Volunteers, June 7-9:  A variety of volunteer opportunities are available.

To sign up for volunteer opportunities, visit:  www.3riversartsfest.org/volunteer/ or call Eric Thomas, Volunteer Coordinator, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, at 412-456-2697.

About Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival
www.3riversartsfest.org
The Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, a production of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, is set to fulfill its mission of connecting the community to the arts this summer, June 7 – 16, 2013, in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The 10-day Festival is free and open to the public and presents high-quality and diverse visual and performing art attractions sprawling from the newly renovated Point State Park at the confluence of the city’s famed three rivers, through picturesque Gateway Center, and into Pittsburgh’s world-renowned 14-block Cultural District.  During its vast and varied history, the Festival has featured more than 12,000 artists and entertained millions of residents and visitors, including an annual crowd of 400,000.

About Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival
www.pittburghjazzlive.com
The Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival, a production of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, will consist of three days of free jazz and jazz-influenced musical performances on outdoor stages throughout downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District from June 7-9, 2013. Held in conjunction with the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, the Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival attracts over 20,000 attendees from around the country. The Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival features local, emerging, and renowned national and international musicians in a variety of performance settings.

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Chaka Khan to Perform with JazzLive International

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Today's date: April 3, 2013
Contact:
Shaunda Miles – Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, 412-471-1578 / miles@TrustArts.org
Diana Roth – Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, 412-471-8717 / roth@TrustArts.org

Images available at:
http://trustarts.org/press
Search name:  2013 JazzLive International Festival

For More Information: www.pittsburghjazzlive.com

3rd Annual
Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival
June 7-9, 2013

240 jazz musicians performing 72 hours of jazz in the heart of the Cultural District
Headliners include Chaka Khan, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Marcus Miller and Pat Martino

Pittsburgh, PA - The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is proud to present the third annual JazzLive International Festival (PJLIF) on June 7-9, 2013.  The Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival will consist of three days of free jazz and jazz-influenced musical performances on outdoor stages throughout downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. Held in conjunction with the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, the Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival attracts over 20,000 attendees from around the country. The Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival features local, emerging, and national and international musicians in a variety of performance settings that include:

•         Outdoor performance stages and indoor performance locations within local restaurants, coffee shops and galleries.
•         A free Jazz Crawl in the Cultural District, featuring 150 local and regional musicians.
•         Late night club performances.
•         Showcase Noir Artist Showcase: An African American Designer Market that includes pottery, paintings, jewelry, fiber works, and sculptures available for sale by some of the region’s finest artists.        

“The PJLIF has expanded greatly in the last 2 years,” says Janis Burley Wilson, Vice President and Director of Jazz Programs for The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. “The Trust will present over 240 artists in 72 hours. Our headlining performers are world-renowned mainstream and contemporary jazz, R&B and blues artists. Downbeat Magazine described PJLIF as “intimate, laid back and inviting”. The JazzLive Jam Sessions after hours have become legendary amongst musicians.  Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival has something for everyone that wants to celebrate America’s classical music - Jazz.”


CONFIRMED HEADLINE ARTISTS

Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan
"Queen of Funk-Soul," Chaka Khan is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the front woman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. Her career has spanned over 4 decades. Over the years, she has collaborated with many legendary performers in the industry that include but are not limited to Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder and Prince.  Some of her most popular hits include "Tell Me Something Good," "Sweet Thing,” "Ain't Nobody," "I'm Every Woman," "I Feel for You" and "Through the Fire."  In 1982, Khan recorded Echoes of an Era, a collection of jazz standards featuring performances from Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, and Lenny White. This project provided Chaka Khan with her first Grammy Nomination for Best Female Jazz Vocalist.  Born Yvette Marie Stevens, in North Chicago Illinois, Chaka received an honorary doctorate degree from Berklee College of Music in 2004. She is also active in the autism community, having family members who have been diagnosed with the condition. Her Earth Song Entertainment and Chaka Khan Foundation operate from Beverly Hills, California to raise research money for a cure.  She is also the recipient of the 2006 BET Lifetime Achievement Award and has received four American Music Award nominations.

Rudresh Mahanthappa
Few musicians share the ability of saxophonist/composer Rudresh Mahanthappa to embody the expansive possibilities of his music with his culture. Time and again, Mahanthappa has eloquently displayed the capacity to absorb numerous styles and genres of music, combine them with the language of modern jazz, and emerge with a new form still recognizably jazz.  What has materialized is a sound that hybridizes progressive jazz and South Indian classical music in a fluid and forward-looking form that reflects Mahanthappa’s own experience growing up a second-generation Indian-American. He has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and commissions from the Rockefeller Foundation MAP Fund, Chamber Music America and the American Composers Forum. He has been named alto saxophonist of the year in Downbeat’s 2011 & 2012 International Critics Polls and for four years running by the Jazz Journalists’ Association (2009-2012). Rudresh has studied at Berklee College of Music and DePaul University.

Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller is a two-time Grammy-winner and the composer/producer of ten critically acclaimed and genre-defying albums. As a multi-instrumentalist, Marcus is highly proficient as a keyboardist, clarinetist/bass clarinetist and, primarily, as a world-renowned electric bassist, topping critics' and readers' polls for three decades.  His résumé as an A-list player brims with over 500 recording credits as a sideman on albums across the spectrum of musical styles that include collaborations with Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Donald Fagen and Eric Clapton, David Sanborn, George Benson, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Sample, Wayne Shorter, Grover Washington, Jr., Roberta Flack, Paul Simon, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Chaka Khan, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Z.Z. Hill, Billy Idol, Al Jarreau, Dave Koz and opera sensation Kathleen Battle.  As a film music pro, Miller rose from writing the go-go party classic "Da Butt" for Spike Lee's "School Daze,” to becoming the go-to composer for over 20 films including the Eddie Murphy/Halle Berry classic “Boomerang.”

Pat Martino
Philadelphia native, Pat Martino, began playing professionally at age 15 after moving to New York City. Martino has been recognized as one of the most exciting and virtuosic guitarists in jazz. With a distinctive, fat sound and gut-wrenching performances, he represents the best not just in jazz, but also in music.  He embodies thoughtful energy and soul and has performed with a wide variety of artists including Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Jimmy Smith, Chick Corea, Jack McDuff, and Stanley Clark. The Grammy nominated virtuoso has been selected as the Guitar Player of the Year, Downbeat Magazine's 2004 Reader's Poll and has taught at several prestigious universities including Duquesne, New York University, Pennsylvania University, Stanford University. He’s also been a recording artist for Blue Note, Prestige, Vanguard and Warner Brothers Records.

Returning to the Festival stage is Artist-in-Residence for the Sound and Spirit initiative, Sean Jonesand the Sean Jones Quartet.  Sean Jones is a trumpeter, composer and educator. He was formerly the lead trumpet player with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra directed by Wynton Marsalis. Jones is currently a professor of Jazz Studies at Duquesne University and has eight critically acclaimed jazz albums to his credit.  The multi-Grammy Award nominee is particularly adept at plumbing complex emotional plateaus through his trumpet playing and composing. Most recently, he’s toured with Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller and Wayne Shorter in Europe with a project that celebrated the Miles Davis legacy.  Jones’ heart stopping quartet consists of Philadelphia-based pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Luques Curtis, and Miami-born drummer Obed Calvaire. No matter what angle they take on the subject, Jones and company’s blazing interactions reveals what any jazz fan knows is the greatest love of all: that between an artist and his music. As Jones says, “I like to play from the heart and not the head.”

Other outstanding artists participating in the Festival include Gregory Porter, Latin legend Eddie Palmieri and his Salsa Orchestra, the Orrin Evans Trio, young vocalist and composer of Haitian descent Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Cyrille Aimee & Diego Figueiredo, Ralph Peterson, Gerald Clayton,Roger Humphries,  and Allison Miller, an up and coming New York folk jazz drummer. Pittsburgh native musicians Allan Harris/David Budway will pay tribute to the music of jazz masters Billy Eckstine and Billy Strayhorn in an intimate jazz session entitled Billy Squared².

ANCILLARY EVENTS

MACY’S In Store Pre-Festival Sessions
Before the Crawl begins, MACY’S will celebrate the Festival with a series of in store events.

Saturday, June 1, 2-4pm: South Hills Village
Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra Junior Jam Session
*This program is part of the PNC Grow Up Great initiative.

Saturday, June 1, 2-4pm: Ross Park Mall
Max Leake featuring Maureen Budway

Saturday, June 1, 2-4pm: Mall at Robinson
Thomas Wendt

Saturday, June 1, 2-4pm: Monroeville Mall
Dennis Garner Band

Thursday, June 6, 5-7pm: Downtown Pittsburgh
Official Kick-off Party
Enjoy shopping, sales, giveaways and live entertainment.
Featuring: Cecil Brooks III, David Budway and Dwayne Dolphin
         

Al Bright : Abstract Jazz Works
 During this year’s Festival, join internationally renowned abstract expressionist artist Al Bright as he creates paintings before audiences to live jazz music.  Over his career, he has collaborated with world famous musicians Art Blakey, Wynton Marsalis, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Jimmy Owens, James Williams, Billy Pierce, and Robin Eubanks.  His paintings are held in museums, corporate and private collections throughout the United States and abroad.  Al Bright is currently Professor Emeritus of Art at Youngstown State University where he has taught painting for over 40 years.
Exhibit Location: 709 Gallery, 709 Penn Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh
Exhibition Dates: May 31-June 30
Opening Reception: May 31, 6pm-8pm


PARTNERS & SPONSORS
The Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival is made possible through the generous support of RK Mellon, UPMC, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, MACY’S.  This year, the Festival is proud to announce megabus.com as the official Pittsburgh Jazz Festival Bus Transportation Sponsor.  The company brings approximately 35,000 customers to Pittsburgh per month providing an affordable, convenient and fun way to travel.  The Festival is also supported by numerous collaborators, in-kind and media sponsors.

All artists and show times are subject to change. For updates, a full list of artist biographies, sponsors and more information please visit, www.pittsburghjazzlive.com

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Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Two Major Festivals Impact Road and Garage Access in Pittsburgh

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Media Contact: Veronica Corpuz, 412-471-6082

Road closures announced for two major festivals next week

Pittsburgh, PA: The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will host two of the city’s biggest events this summer: the 52nd annual Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival (June 3-12) and the first annual Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival (June 3-5).

For the safety of our guests and participants of the Arts Festival, the following street closures will occur around Point State Park and western edge of the Cultural District:

From 10:00am on May 31 through 10:00pm on June 14, two lanes of Commonwealth Place between Penn Avenue Extension and Ft. Duquesne Boulevard, adjacent to Point State Park, will be closed.

Traffic will continue to flow in both directions in the remaining two lanes of Commonwealth closest to the Wyndham Grand Hotel.

From 6pm - 12am on Thursday, June 2, and 8pm – 12am on June 5, 7, 9 and 12, the following temporary closures will be in effect:

Two lanes of Penn Avenue Extension outbound will be between Stanwix Street and Commonwealth Place.

All lanes of Liberty Avenue Extension inbound from the entrance to Gateway Center Parking Garage to Stanwix Street

Parking meters and curbside lanes along Commonwealth Place between Ft. Pitt Boulevard and Liberty Avenue.

To ensure a safe and enjoyable environment for Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival 2011, the following road closures will be taking place in the upper Penn-Liberty corridor of the Cultural District at 7am – 12am on Saturday, June 4, 2011:

Penn Avenue from Courtyard Marriott Pittsburgh Downtown to 9th Street

9th Street between Liberty Avenue and Penn Avenue

Liberty Avenue from 10th Street to Smithfield Street

Garrison Way from between French Street and Exchange Way

Exchange Way from Garrison Way to 9th Street


Please note the following:

Access to all Pittsburgh Parking Authority Garages and all parking garages noted above will be open and will not be impeded by the road closures, with exception of the 9th and Penn Parking lot on June 4, 2011.

All of the above closures are in addition to street closures for Port Authority construction, Fifth Avenue Place construction, Pittsburgh Pirates home games, Pride in the Streets and PrideFest.

For more information on the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, visit 3riversartsfest.org. To learn more about the highlights of the Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival, visit PittsburghJazzLive.com.

For information on Port Authority bus stops that may be affected by these or other road closures, please call the Port Authority Customer Service center at (412) 442-2000 or the TTY number (412) 231-7007, for the speech and hearing impaired, or visit PortAuthority.org
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