Tree of Jazz
The Little Piano Girl of East Liberty
“I had now been attending Lincoln School for a couple of years, learning music and playing college teas… I had earned a local reputation as `the gigging piano girl from East Liberty´.”
Aunt Mary was a child prodigy who learned to play the piano from listening. By the time she was 6 years old she had been playing for private concerts and was known as the Little Piano Girl of East Liberty, and by the time she as 12 years old she was touring with professional bands. Aunt Mary, often referred to the as the First Lady of Jazz, composed and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman and mentored jazz legends, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Thelonious Monk
Music started as a bridge for connection during the challenging times of segregation. For Aunt Mary this symbolic connection evolved into a tree that depicted how music is interconnected and at MLWI we believe the tree is a metaphor to how we are all connected as human beings.
Puppets for Pittsburgh
“[Puppets for Pittsburgh] reminds people that art can be found in our everyday surroundings or, if it isn’t, that we can create it.”
Cheryl Capezzuti has made puppets for Pittsburgh for over 20 years. Cheryl’s puppets can be found at parades, traditional theater events, installations, and gallery exhibitions to name just a few places in Pittsburgh.
Tree of Jazz
Summer Collaboration
Play it Forward
A Message From The Team
How does a city remember a local legend whose music contributed a great deal to the jazz world? By keeping her story alive – shared from voice to voice, generation to generation – so it is never forgotten!
Mary Lou Williams, the First Lady of Jazz and a pioneer of Bebop and Sacred Jazz, began her musical career right here in Pittsburgh - where the roots of her Tree of Jazz began to grow.
Mary Lou believed that a tree was symbolic to the history of music and visually traced the connection from the roots to the branches. At our core MLWI believes that jazz (and the arts overall) weave communities together and speak to the heart and soul of our shared humanity.
Roving Art Cart + The Zodiac Suite…
This summer through puppetry, music and imagination, we are bringing Mary Lou legacy directly to children across this great city of Pittsburgh.
A special collaboration with MLWI, Puppeteer Cheryl Capezzuti and storyteller Kellee Van Aken - this year’s Citiparks Roving Art Cart Program is not just a performance, it is a living act of remembrance, connection, enrichment and joy.
Through a series of short and engaging vignettes, the audience experiences the early stage of life, where she discovered that music was a part of her and this is where the Little Piano Girl of East Liberty began. Puppets will bring selections of the Grammy Award Nominated Zodiac Suite to life. This summer experience is more than a retelling it is the passing of a composition, that is turned into a story and shared from one generation to the next, ensuring that it is not forgotten but instead grows roots in new hearts and imaginations.
This is how legacy is built: by sharing a story until it becomes someone else’s source of inspiration - this is a reminder that greatness can begin anywhere, and we celebrate the excellence from this great city of Steele with this collaboration.
The Arts Are Vital…
When you play it forward, we can bring this accessible experience into neighborhoods and parks across Pittsburgh; it also assures Mary Lou’s story is shared with a new generation and can spark inspiration so the Tree of Jazz can continue to grow.
Your support helps us to achieve the following:
1. Set Design & Casting
2. Planning & Documentation
3. Marketing & Promotion
4. Growth & Sustainability (for after the summer)
Ways to Play it Forward
Improvisation is about freedom, please play it forward in the way that works best for you!
Puppet Level ($100): Your support provides extra puppet materials for each workshop.
Piano Level ($180): Your contribution will allow for an enhanced musical experience.
Pittsburgh ($360): Your contribution at this level brings the Zodiac Suite alive with a cast of diverse characters.
Tree of Jazz ($1,800): At this level you invest in the infrastructure and the overall impact that this program has on the Pittsburgh community.
Please contact Max if you would like to play it forward with expertise, space or resources.
When you support MLWI it is not transactional, it’s sustainable! Your commitment to playing it forward helps us, to compose the future of this program which gives it more meaning and makes it more impactful.
We honor our supporters in name, in relationship, in shared experiences, and in love for the arts, jazz, and Pittsburgh.
If you have questions about MLWI please contact Cecily.
Join us as we compose a new program that celebrates the Zodiac Suite composition, the art of puppetry, and Pittsburgh.