Courier exclusive: Lynne Hayes-Freeland becomes first African American to host full-time weekday show on KDKA RADIO beginning Jan. 3, 2019.
Click for full story Lynne Hayes-Freeland
Lynne Hayes-Freeland is a general assignment reporter known for live, late-breaking reporting for KDKA-TV News. She is also producer/host of “The Lynne Hayes-Freeland Show,” a weekly half-hour show that concentrates on local African American issues. She began her broadcast career as the producer of the Roy Fox Show on KDKA-Radio. Since joining KDKA-TV2 in 1976, Lynne has held a variety of positions. She was a field producer for the station’s “Evening Magazine” program. In 1981, Lynne moved to the station’s programming department where she created “Weekend Magazine,” produced what was then known as the “Vibrations” program, and directed a variety of commercial efforts. In 1985, Lynne began a five-year stint as the producer of KDKA’s Annual Children’s Hospital Free Care Fund Telethon. As a result of those efforts, Lynne was named Director of Community Programs until her move to the news department. An active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc, Lynne has also been involved in a variety of community service work including volunteering time on several local Boards. Her work has been recognized by organizations both locally and nationally. A graduate of St. Paul’s Cathedral, now part of Oakland Catholic, and Duquesne University, Lynne resides in Pittsburgh. |
Dr. Herbert Vincent-Ricardo Pea’dro Jones and The Heritage Gospel Chorale of Pittsburgh
Director of The Heritage Gospel Chorale of Pittsburgh since its founding, Dr. Jones is one of the nation's foremost figures in choral conducting and pedagogy and an expert in the intersection between theology and musical expression. A Southern transplant to Pennsylvania, Dr. Jones has cultivated a broad-based, multifaceted career as a choral conductor, educator, operatic and oratorio bass, liturgical dancer, orator and pastor, teaching and performing across the United States and Europe. Dr. Jones holds numerous degrees: B.S. in Music, M.S. in Counseling Psychology, M.Mus. in Choral Conducting/Music Education, M.Divinity (M.Div.) in Sacred Music, Dance & Drama, D.M.A. in Music, Choral Conducting, Performance Pedagogy & Choral Music Education, and has done Ph.D Studies in Ethnomusicology. Dr. Jones has taught in the Public Schools of Mississippi (grades 6-12), the Private High School sector (The Piney Woods School, Mississippi, The Neighborhood Academy-Pittsburgh) and colleges in universities in North Dakota, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi, respectively. Dr. Jones is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association, the Music Educators National Conference, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Tau Beta Sigma, and the National Guild of Sacred Dancers. He has published articles in the Mississippi ACDA/Mississippi Music Teachers Journal, the Academic Division of GMWA, the Milestone Christian Bookstore Newsletter, and several others. Dr. Jones is listed in: Who's Who Among American Teachers (dual listing); Distinguished Church Musicians In America, Outstanding Personalities of the America, Marquise International Who's Who, Residential Scholars, Choral Scholar, (University of Mississippi); in 2011, 50 Men of Excellence (selected by the New Pittsburgh Courier), in 2013, one of 5 men selected as “Men of Distinction” recognized by the Rachel Randall Education Ministry of the Pentecostal Temple Church of God In Christ, Pittsburgh, PA., and several others. Dr. Jones is considered a leading authority on the music of Moses George Hogan. His Doctoral Dissertation, “THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN SPIRITUAL AND GOSPEL SONG: THE MUSICAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF MOSES GEORGE HOGAN, COMPOSER AND ARRANGER”, is the only definitive work on the life, music, compositional style of the composer. An Ordained Minister of Music, Dr. Jones is Executive Administrative Assistant to the Academic Dean, Academic Division, of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, Inc. (GMWA), and sits on the Boards of The Simmons Scholarship Foundation, Inc. (Columbus, OH), the Afro-American Music Institute (AAMI) (Pittsburgh, PA), ‘All Nations Dance’ (Pittsburgh, PA), the Pentecostal Temple Development Corporation, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA), Professionals for Christ, Inc. (Birmingham, AL), and RAISE Academy (Columbus, OH), and is on the faculty of Community College of Allegheny County, Allegheny Campus – Department of Music. Dr. Jones continues to maintain an active schedule conducting seminars and workshops, guest conducting, and adjudicating choral festivals and competitions. |
STAYCEE PEARL Dance Project & Soy Sos
STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos (SPdp + SS) exists to interpret and mirror culture and community through dance and dance centered multi-media experiences. With diverse casting and programming, SPdp + SS explores innovative conceptual possibilities while participating in meaningful collaboration. Under the leadership of Choreographer Staycee Pearl and Sound Designer Herman 'Soy Sos' Pearl, SPdp +SS produces programming around compelling concepts and themes often inspired by social/political world issues. SPdp +SS also occasionally examines the works of celebrated legendary and contemporary artists of the African Diaspora. SPdp +SS started as an informal incubator in 2010 with its first concert PUPA. From 2010 - 2013 SPdp +SS was resident dance company of the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater. SPdp + SS ended this formative residency with the premiere of ...on being..., an investigation of race, gender, and personal identity in relation to conversations around Post-Blackness. Since these early works, SPdp + SS has created several evening-length works, including ABBEY: In The Red, a work inspired by the unique Jazz vocals of Abbey Lincoln and the civil rights movement she helped give voice to. Through re-imagined live music and dance, this project juxtaposes the current cultural movement with that of the sixties. |
D.A.N.A. Movement Ensemble
Considered a pioneer in the Pittsburgh dance scene, Nick M. Daniels is the founding Artistic Director of the D.A.N.A. Movement Ensemble (Dancers Against Normal Actions) which he started in 1991. With over 30 years of dance and choreography experience, he considers himself a reemerging choreographer after taking a 20+year hiatus. Since returning in 2016 hi choreographic style continuously has developed into contemporary modern, based on pure raw emotion and musicality. His dancing career began at a young age, as a student in McKeesport High School where he began developing and perfecting various styles of dance. Throughout the years he has choreographed processional formations for marching bands and Drum and Bugle Corps. The McKeesport native and Pittsburgh resident has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance from Slippery Rock University and started the DANA Movement Ensemble prior to graduation. Along with his Company he has received many awards, accolades and favorable reviews from across the country. |