The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Lullaby Project offers a creative opportunity for parents and caregivers to communicate feelings, hopes, and dreams for their children’s future. The Cultural Trust is now one of more than fifty organizations worldwide to partner on the transformative Lullaby Project, which is a program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI).
Launched in 2024, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Lullaby Project is guiding twenty local families, split across two cohorts, through the process of writing and recording lullabies for their young or expected children. The process culminates with a Celebration Concert in the Cultural District at which families and the public experience professional performances of personalized lullabies.
The Cultural Trust’s inaugural cohort of ten families joined the Project behind the scenes in early 2024, concluding earlier this summer with a Celebration Concert on June 24, 2024, at the Trust’s Greer Cabaret Theater. Ten more participating families will join the Project this fall with a second Celebration Concert scheduled for Saturday, January 18, 2025, rounding out the first full year of the program produced by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust hired professional Teaching Artists Sean Baker (program musical director), Lynn Speakman, and David Bowens to help execute the program. Numerous community partners including Beverly’s Birthdays, the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh, and When She Thrives also play critical roles, including helping to identify potential participating families. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Lullaby Project is made possible through generous support from PNC.
“Colleagues, musicians, and participants – everyone who’s been part of this so far – has been uplifted in a really positive way,” said Terri Bell, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Community Engagement for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
Teaching Artist and musician Lynn Speakman added, “When I was invited to be part of this project, it was one of the coolest things I’ve been asked to do in a long time. As musicians, if we can lift somebody up…that’s why we do what we do.”
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Lullaby Project is a new initiative of the organization’s Strategic Partnerships & Community Engagement department, dedicated to offering a wide range of experiences that foster deep connection with the arts and create a meaningful, lasting impact with participants. Along with the Cultural Trust’s Arts Education department initiatives, these programs exemplify the organization’s commitment to serving the community beyond the Cultural District, throughout the region. Learn more at TrustArts.org.
The first Lullaby Project with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute took place at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, New York in December 2011, and since then more than 7,000 families have written original songs for their children, many of which are available for listening and sharing at carnegiehall.org/lullabies. Extending across the country and around the world, more than 50 partner organizations work with families in their own communities. Lullabies have been written in more than 40 different languages and a wide range of musical styles, reflecting the diverse backgrounds of participating families.
