Herman Pearl/Soy Sos is a sound designer, audio engineer, and producer. He creates a wide range of movement and sound works with his wife and creative partner Staycee Pearl. Herman sees sound as an actual physical force, literally moving the air around and through us. This was impressed upon him in his early encounters with Jamaican sound system, dub and bass culture in the late 80s. It informs everything he does from the conception, composition, production, and mixing of the music to the design and configuration of the playback systems for performances.

Erik Lawrence has toured the world as a saxophonist, flutist and composer, sometimes with his own original groups and often in support of a wide variety of legendary artists. Much of his work centers around tone of the many wind instruments he plays. The core of that sound, what can be expressed and how people respond and can be moved by it has led him to studying the science and practice of sound and vibration and how it affects the body and mind. He has sought the instruction of several master sound and vibrational healers and continues to learn about both ancient and modern healing modalities.

Luan Sodré is a Brazilian musician, composer, and educator from Salvador da Bahia whose work bridges music, culture, and Afro-diasporic identity. A capoeira practitioner rooted in Afro-Brazilian tradition, he released the album Afrodiaspórico in 2021 and the single Bons Ventos in 2024. Sodré holds a doctorate in music from the Federal University of Bahia and teaches at the State University of Feira de Santana, where he leads research on diaspora, music, and society.

John Bagnato is the coordinator of the Center of Life jazz program in Pittsburgh and teaches at the University of Pittsburgh and Slippery Rock University. He toured internationally for a decade with Big Chief Donald Harrison jr. and composed for Dillard University theater while living in New Orleans. He performed with Wu Tang Clan and Busta Rhymes, is a Fullbright and Mellon scholar, and is featured on recordings by Bill Summers, Trombone Shorty, and Mario Adnet.

trē seguritan abalos (“tree”) is a Filipinx-American sound artist & improviser from San Jose, CA. Tre’s playing includes live soundscapes for JADED, Pittsburgh Sound+Image, ambient music as GLO-TREE with GNM; improvisations with electronic musicians such as BusCrates, Hellcat Sneer, Adam Kantz, David Bernabo; free jazz with Dylan Zeh, Ross Antonich, & Derek Bendel; sound design for film, and a series of sound + text experiments called unmade place featuring local musicians and poets.

Buscrates is a Pittsburgh-based electronic musician, DJ, and producer known for his signature fusion of boom-bap hip-hop and synth-driven boogie-funk. A seasoned performer and modular synth enthusiast, he has collaborated with artists including DJ Jazzy Jeff, Dâm-Funk, Wiz Khalifa, and Curren$y. His recent releases showcase a refined, globally influenced sound, building on years of studio craft. Buscrates is also a quality control specialist at Hellbender Vinyl and a key figure in Pittsburgh’s music scene.

Anyah Nancy is a Pittsburgh-born jazz singer whose rich, soulful tone blends traditional Black jazz with modern soul and R&B. Trained at the African American Music Institute under Dr. James Johnson, she has performed at Con Alma, the August Wilson Center, and internationally at the Clazz Music Festival in Italy. With over 160k streams, Anyah is preparing to release her debut album, Sounds Like Honey, in fall 2025—marking her emergence as a rising global artist.

KST is leading a groundbreaking national symposium that aims to reshape the future of accessible, equitable cultural spaces owned and anchored by BIPOC communities.

Guided by our vision “Owning Our Future. Thriving Where We Live.,” this three-day gathering in May 2025 serves as a platform to catalyze a critical national dialogue and chart a path forward.

Collaborating with an advisory committee of national and local colleagues, KST curates a cross-industry program that features discussions, performances, and celebrations with leaders in art, activism, urban planning, philanthropy, and government. Together we imagine new financial, operational, and physical structures for BIPOC-owned arts spaces, addressing the structural inequities that the pandemic laid bare.

The symposium spotlights organizations employing new strategies to safeguard culture in their communities. It engages forward-thinking stakeholders invested in emergent models. Look forward to thought-provoking panel sessions, inspiring keynote addresses, and dynamic performances by Pittsburgh and national artists.

symposium pass

FIND FULL SCHEDULE HERE