Led by artist Steve O’Hearn and composer Jackie Dempsey, Squonk Opera has spent the last 20 years representing Pittsburgh nationally and internationally, and serving their regional home with (often free) events. In the same week, they opened the World Theater Music Festival in Korea and performed a student workshop in McMurray, PA, and throughout their two-decade life, have received more than 70 grants and awards including 6 NEA grants, the American Theater Wing Award and a Rockefeller M.A.P. Fund grant

Squonk has regularly held educational workshops and master classes at scores of American schools and universities. Their recent “Pittsburgh: The Opera” became the series called “(Put Your Hometown’s Name Here): The Opera,” which has enjoyed almost 25 different site-specific productions from Baltimore to Korea. This show is a development of community-specific residency activities that the Opera has done for years, judging pet parades at rural town halls, and giving workshops at inner-city schools. Dedicated to the expression of creativity in youth and communities across the city and the world, Squonk Opera is proud to part of Kids+Creativity and Pittsburgh’s greater learning network.