On a Pedestal, Summer 2022

When Harris Ferris became executive director, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre had lost its orchestra and faced a mountain of debt and a dubious future. Nearly 17 years later, he leaves the PBT stronger than ever. A former principal dancer, armed with a Rutgers MBA and a winning personality, Ferris expanded the company’s national and international profile, eliminated its deficit, bolstered cash reserves, and doubled the annual operating budget to $12 million. He completed a $21.2 million capital campaign to construct the 14,000-square-foot Byham Center for Dance and a state-of-the-art Pilates studio. The campaign also built endowment and innovation funds for repertory, education and scholarship programs. And during the pandemic, he secured funding for and launched a mobile stage and an Open Air Series so the show could go on with outdoor live performances. He’ll take a final bow when Open Air returns June 9-12 on the banks of the Allegheny in Sharpsburg. Before he takes on a new mission — healthy aging through the power of movement — we salute Ferris for his PBT leadership.

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Just when the region needs it most, The Pittsburgh Foundation announced that individuals gave a record $26.2 million in charitable donations last year — a 53 percent increase. In all, the foundation raised $68.8 million, another record. As the city’s Community Foundation, it plays a key leadership role in a region rich with philanthropy, and last year, TPF distributed $57.1 million in grants to 2,850 nonprofits and civic groups. 
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On April 30th, a capacity Heinz Hall crowed shouted “Bravo!” above thunderous applause as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra capped its pandemic-delayed 125th anniversary celebration — in which the PSO played all of Beethoven’s symphonies at various locations throughout Pittsburgh — with a truly triumphant performance of his last great symphony, the 9th. PSO President & CEO Melia Tourangeau, Maestro Manfred Honeck, the PSO musicians, and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh deserve broad appreciation for the magnificent performance and civic contribution.
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Riverlife has announced a nearly $250 million plan to complete the 15-mile loop around Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle that has been the ultimate dream since the civic group was founded in 1999 by the late John Craig, longtime Post-Gazette editor, and the late Paul O’Neill, former Aloca CEO and U.S. Treasury Secretary. Spurred by Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and Teresa Heinz, a cast of Pittsburghers, including longtime former Riverlife CEO Lisa Schroder, has worked to make the dream a reality, culminating in the recently unveiled 10-year plan that includes walkways, trails and parks stretching from the 31st Street Bridge on the Allegheny River to the West End Bridge on the Ohio and the Hot Metal Bridge on the Monongahela. Congratulations to current Riverlife CEO Matt Galluzzo and all who have donated and contributed. It’s proof of what can happen with vision, leadership, dedication and perseverance. 
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If you haven’t been to the August Wilson Center recently, its first permanent exhibit, “The Writer’s Landscape,” gives you a great reason to go. Under the leadership of CEO Janis Burley Wilson (no relation) and with the devoted efforts of the playwright’s widow Constanza Romero-Wilson, the Center now has a centerpiece that tells the story of Pittsburgh’s theater giant. Aptly starting in a coffee shop, the writer’s standard haunt, the exhibit takes visitors through a series of powerful, visually compelling installations that document and explain Wilson’s life’s work, “The American Century Cycle” — a play for every decade of the 20th century. It’s the best thing that’s happened in the Center’s 13-year history and merits a visit.
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Each year, on the first Monday in May, local literary publisher Autumn House Press holds its Autumn in Spring gala. After cocktails at the Duquesne Club, Anne Burnham brought her considerable Irish lyrical talents to the MC role, introducing the evening’s stars — notable Pittsburghers who recited their favorite poems: Helen Hanna Casey (Dorothy Parker selections), Greg and Simin Curtis (“War Comes to the Village” by Li Shangyin), Dan Dupee (“The Lotos Eaters” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson), Louise Sturgess (“Prologue” by Haniel Long), and Robert Mangino (“The Fog” by Giovanni Pascoli ). We’ve attended just about every gala in town and can’t remember one that was more delightful.