RELEASE: Kelly Strayhorn Theater Announces Winter / Spring 2025 Season
Activism can be the journey rather than the arrival.”
― Grace Lee Boggs
Pittsburgh, PA – Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) is thrilled to announce their Winter/Spring 2025 season, offering an exciting lineup of Youth & Family programs, visual arts exhibition, tribute concert, and Freshworks work-in-progress showcases. The season culminates in May, where KST hosts their special national symposium, Owning Our Future: A Symposium on BIPOC Institutional Ownership. Tickets are now available for purchase at kelly-strayhorn.org.
This season, KST presents a range of impactful events that inspire, challenge, and uplift: from An MLK Day Celebration and Let Freedom Sing concert honoring the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to Lifting Liberty, a visual arts exhibition by artist Njaimeh Njie that celebrates the creative spirit of East Liberty. KST is also thrilled to support two new Freshworks artists and their work-in-progress with residencies: Singer Zuly Inirio’s La Voz Que Soy and choreographer Anya Collins’ Fugue, which explore themes of identity, history, and the present moment. Additionally, the overwhelming community excitement surrounding WHITNEY: A Tribute Concert with Dwayne Fulton continues to be a highlight.
In 2022, KST shared their strategic plan, Owning Our Future, Thriving Where We Live, with a bold vision for KST to become a national cultural destination—a creative home for bold voices, rooted in the liberation of Black and queer people. Now, in 2025, KST is stronger than ever and ready to build upon this foundation. But KST can’t do it alone.
In these uncertain political times, KST is called not only to reflect but to act. The theater has an opportunity to reimagine a future shaped by art in a world that is constantly shifting. Despite the volatility around us, one truth remains clear: through the arts, there is always a path forward.
Looking ahead, KST invites everyone to join the Owning Our Future Symposium in May 2025, which will explore BIPOC institutional ownership and envision a new future for equitable, accessible cultural spaces owned and anchored by BIPOC communities. Together, KST will pave new avenues toward cultural justice.
The future is ours to shape. With the support and participation of the community, KST will continue to build a space where art, creativity, and community thrive—where every voice matters and every story is honored. The work is just beginning, and the best is yet to come.
YOUTH & FAMILY| DANCE | MUSIC
In The Spirit of Rev. Dr. King
An MLK Day Celebration
Monday, January 20
1:00pm – 4:00pm Community Partner Activities
Kelly Strayhorn | 5941 Penn Ave.
Pay What Moves You: $0 – $25
MUSIC | COMMUNITY
Let Freedom Sing Concert
Celebrating Social Justice in Song
Monday, January 20
7:30pm – 9:00pm
Kelly Strayhorn Theater | 5941 Penn Ave.
Pay What Moves You: $2 – $50
KST GALLERY | VISUAL ART
Njaimeh Njie
Lifting Liberty
Thursday, February 27 – Saturday, May 31
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 27, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Gallery Hours with Performance
Kelly Strayhorn Theater | 5941 Penn Ave.
Pay What Moves You: $0 – $20
SPECIAL EVENT | MUSIC
Whitney
A Tribute Concert with Dwayne Fulton
Saturday, March 15
5:30pm – 7:00pm: VIP Reception
7:30pm – 9:00pm: Concert
Kelly Strayhorn Theater | 5941 Penn Ave
Pay What Moves You: $35 – $65
FRESHWORKS | MUSIC
Zuly Inirio
La Voz que Soy
Friday & Saturday, April 4* – 5* | *with discussion
7:30pm – 9:00pm
KST’s Alloy Studios | 5530 Penn Ave.
Pay What Moves You: $15 – $30
FRESHWORKS | DANCE
Anya Collins
Fugue
Friday & Saturday, May 2* – 3* | *with discussion
7:30pm – 9:00pm
KST’s Alloy Studios | 5530 Penn Ave.
Pay What Moves You: $15 – $30
SPECIAL EVENT
Owning Our Future
A Symposium on BIPOC Institutional Ownership
Friday May 16 – Sunday, May 18
All Day Programming: Discussions and Performances
Kelly Strayhorn Theater | 5941 Penn Ave.
Tickets on sale in February 2025
THEATER | COMMUNITY
theatriQ
Creative Sessions
Wednesdays, January 8 – April 23
5:30pm – 8:00pm
KST’s Alloy Studios | 5530 Penn Ave.
FREE
THEATER | COMMUNITY
theatriQ
An Original Theater Production
Friday – Sunday, April 25 – 27
Times Vary
KST’s Alloy Studios | 5530 Penn Ave.
Pay What Moves You: $10 – $40
ABOUT KELLY STRAYHORN THEATER
Named after 20th century entertainment legends Gene Kelly and Billy Strayhorn, both natives of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) is a home for creative experimentation, community dialogue, and collective action rooted in the liberation of Black and queer people. We welcome our home to all who uplift Black, Indigenous, people of color, and queer voices.
KST is an institutional arts anchor in Pittsburgh’s East End that has served the community for more than two decades. Since launching KST Presents programming in ’08, KST has been Black-led, fostering radical imagination for Black and queer arts, culture, and community in Pittsburgh by cultivating BIPOC and/or queer artists, entrepreneurs, and arts administrators, developing their careers, and shifting narratives around Black possibility