Black Composers Center Stage in Pittsburgh’s Groupmuse Debut
by Omari I. Abdul-Alim
It was an amazingly uplifting experience to be able to curate and perform Pittsburgh’s first Groupmuse concert, in celebration of Black History Month 2026. Groupmuse is an internationally active organization that provides a platform to promote and finance intimate/salon concerts in various cities around the world. These concerts are an excellent opportunity for musicians to program and perform for patrons, arts administrators, activists, teaching artists etc. with the intention of community building.
The vision for the concert was first conceived at Sphinx Connect 2025 where I had the pleasure of reconnecting with Dara Hankins, a peer I was first introduced to at Virginia Symphony Orchestra during my fellowship two years prior. At that time, in January 2025, I realized that I may be able to organize Pittsburgh’s first Groupmuse as a part of a bigger series of concerts. Being relatively new to the city however, I lacked the necessary network of musicians and supporters. Since then, I have become much more familiar with Pittsburgh’s unique venues and arts resources, so I was very excited to bring my network together for this Black History Month celebration in 2026. We were fortunate to book Catapult Greater Pittsburgh to host us on such short notice. Their art gallery and speakeasy spaces are beautiful and were a perfect fit for the night.
Ultimately, the final performance was a huge success and a treat for everyone involved. Many pieces had to fall into place for us to be able to organize and promote this concert within the month of February; so soon after Sphinx Connect 2026. This Groupmuse was made up entirely of works by Black composers, living and past. Alongside Caleb Smith for instance, we premiered a piece for mixed quartet, which he composed specifically for this program. Additionally, Hankins included the concert in her Groupmuse series, Planetary Music Movement (PMM), which highlights artists of African descent. This collaboration between the local arts community, Unisound and Groupmuse was the foundation for an unprecedented event in Pittsburgh history, presenting an all Black composed program to be recorded live, in celebration of Black History Month. My peers and I are optimistic that this was just the first of many more Pittsburgh Groupmuse concerts to come.
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See more photos from this event at www.instagram.com/unisoundpgh/.
