Blast-off into space without leaving the ‘Burgh with these exhibits for kids. 

Moonshot Museum

1016 N. Lincoln Avenue
What does your kid want to be when they grow up? If they’re one of the many children aspiring to be an astronaut, they’re in luck. Pittsburgh’s North Side currently has not one, but two amazing attractions sure to delight future space travelers. 

Moonshot Museum, the first space museum in Pennsylvania, opened in October 2022 at the headquarters of Astrobotic Technology. The museum is only one room, but it packs a ton of innovative exhibitions and programming into its 3,000-square-foot space. Kids and adults alike can watch the real-time assembly of lunar spacecraft and participate in hands-on activities during visiting hours or school field trips. Explore the moon’s surface and pen your very own message to the moon, which will be later sent aboard one of Astrobotic’s lunar landers. 

Carnegie Science Center

1 Allegheny Avenue
Just down the road, a half-mile away from the museum, is the prestigious Carnegie Science Center, where you can explore their newest exhibition, Mars: The Next Giant Leap. With support from the Howmet Aerospace Foundation and the PNC Foundation, the exhibit educates guests on space exploration as it launches guests on a 300-million-mile journey to Mars. 

Story by Lisa Cunningham

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Movements Worth Celebrating 

Beth Corning, the artistic director, choreographer, and dancer behind Pittsburgh dance theater company Corningworks, frequently showcases some of the most daring and jaw-dropping performances in Pittsburgh. To truly recognize Corning’s artistry, one must bear witness to the company’s The Glue Factory Projects, original full-length dance theater works featuring national and international performers age 40 and over. 

“Being ‘put out to pasture’ is an inherent risk in the life cycle of a performing artist,” Corning says on her website. “However, these performing artists engaged in the [Glue Factory Projects] are in their prime, where experience and wisdom have taken root and the most compelling artistry is yet to be discovered.” 

Sometimes serious, sometimes quirky, always artistic and boldly compelling, The Glue Factory Projects doesn’t just entertain but encourages conversation. Recent performance themes have included immigration, the #MeToo movement, and climate change, proving that dance can be not just a form of provocative entertainment, but an implement for change. 

See Beth Corning’s choice of a local dance company to watch.

Story by Lisa Cunningham

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Beth Corning, artistic director, choreographer, and dancer of Corningworks, shares with TABLE readers a dance company to watch.

The Pillow Project

The Space Upstairs, 214 N Lexington St

Like everything, especially in art, one’s “likes” are often according to one’s aesthetics … especially attending a live performance. For me, it’s work that touches me viscerally, a work you feel in your guts: there might not be a rational explanation, but there’s something touching you deeply. I’m also drawn to work that’s provocative, that makes me think—that transcends the dazzle of the dancers’ technical strength and abilities, transcends pure entertainment, a work that touches a nerve.

The Pillow Project is one such company whose work interests me on all those levels. The director, Pearlann Porter, has created a true sense of an ensemble of movement artists whose deep commitment to the work they are creating is visceral and allows me to lose myself in the work. A gift.

Story Beth Corning

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Our city is rich in many things, dance among them. TABLE staff shares a list of innovative dance companies performing in Pittsburgh. 

Attack Theatre 

Attack Theatre’s performances merge modern dance with live music and multidisciplinary art forms. 

slowdanger

The creative duo behind slowdanger, co-founding artistic directors taylor knight and anna thompson, aim “to bring audiences closer to their own bodies” through their multidisciplinary performances. 

Bodiography Contemporary Ballet Company

Bodiography has a strong foundation in classical ballet while aiming to bring accessible entertainment to a broad audience. 

Confluence Ballet Co.

Expect a combination of classical traditions and innovation with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. 

Nandanik Dance Troupe

This Pittsburgh-based nonprofit aims to promote and preserve classical Indian dance forms. 

Shana Simmons Dance

Artistic Director Shana Simmons highlights current topics in her works, with a goal of creating “unique and engaging” contemporary dance movements. 

STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos

Under the leadership of choreographer Staycee Pearl and sound designer Herman “Soy Sos” Pearl, this dance company celebrates Black culture through “dynamic dance-centered performance and experiences.” 

Texture Contemporary Ballet

Texture Contemporary Ballet strives to inspire with its innovative ballet performances, combining classically-trained professionals with resident and guest dancers. 

Story by Lisa Cunnigham

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A Concord of Sound: That’s what symphony means in Greek, elegantly calling up the intimate and grand, melodic and percussive, bewitching and precise, collaboration between composer, musicians, and conductor that ignites a fine symphonic performance. Because Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Music Director Manfred Honeck knows when this fire will likely burn bright, we asked him to share with TABLE readers a list of PSO concerts he’s particularly looking forward to this year. 

Boléro

Heinz Hall, June 9-11

Garrop: “Forging Steel” (WORLD PREMIERE + COMMISSION)
Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F major
Richard Strauss (arr. Honeck/ Ille): Salome Suite for Orchestra (WORLD PREMIERE + COMMISSION)
Ravel: Boléro (Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre)

Meant for our 125th anniversary season, this is a program that is three years in the making, and we can’t wait to present it! Susan Jaffe’s choreography for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre dancers beautifully complements the classic, rhythmic tale of Ravel’s Boléro — and you will see the interweaving of dancers with the orchestra. We’re thrilled to welcome back the brilliant pianist Igor Levit who will play Gershwin’s jazzy Piano Concerto, a quintessential American piece. And with two world premieres that the PSO commissioned, you will be the first to see and hear two exciting new works. 

BNY Mellon Grand Classics 1: Opening Weekend

Heinz Hall, September 29-October 1 

Ortiz: “Kauyumari” (PITTSBURGH PREMIERE)
Schumann: Piano Concerto
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 

After the restful month of August, we’ll come back together at Heinz Hall for Opening Weekend with exuberance and flair. We’ll open with Latin Grammy-nominated composer Gabriele Ortiz’s Kauyumari (“blue deer,” among the Huichol people of Mexico) and superstar pianist Hélène Grimaud performing Schumann’s Piano Concerto, a gorgeous piece from the Romantic period. Come see and decide for yourself if Schumann secretly encoded his wife’s name into this stunning work. 

BNY Mellon Grand Classics 3: Beethoven’s Five Piano Concertos

Heinz Hall, October 27 & 29 

Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2, 4 & 3
Beethoven Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 5 “Emperor” 

I think it’s fair to say that this will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. In a Pittsburgh first, legendary pianist—and dear friend of the Pittsburgh Symphony—Rudolf Buchbinder both performs and conducts from the keyboard the five beloved Beethoven Concerti that have inspired pianists and audiences alike for more than 200 years. Buchbinder is celebrated worldwide for renditions with intellectual depth and musical freedom. 

BNY Mellon Grand Classics: Thanksgiving with the Symphony

Heinz Hall, November 24-26 

Korngold: Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra, Opus 35
Gibson: “to make this mountain taller” (PITTSBURGH PREMIERE)
Strauss family waltzes and polkas 

American violinist Randall Goosby, the youngest recipient ever to win the Sphinx Concerto Competition, will make his Pittsburgh debut performing Korngold’s cinematic concerto. This is an exciting artist whose Pittsburgh debut you’ll want to see. In addition to enjoying traditions like turkey and pie, I love Thanksgiving weekend for sharing the music of my home country, Austria—with favorite waltzes and polkas of the Strauss family. 

Handel’s Messiah

Heinz Hall, December 2 

Handel: Messiah 

I would be utterly remiss if I did not include a concert with our outstanding choral partner, the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, and that is Handel’s Messiah. We will be joined by exceptional international soloists for this beloved masterpiece that sets a beautiful tone for the holiday season. 

Story by Manfred Honeck

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