Behind The Scenes: Our First Summer Tour

This past summer, HDIC Productions went on tour with a local brass group, The Plum Brass Quintet.  Now, we use the term "tour" loosely, since it was only around Pittsburgh, but it was at five different venues over the course of about ten weeks between June and August 2018.

The sun sets over a Plum Brass Quintet performance

Our involvement for the summer tour started out with promotional photos for the summer.  It was beautiful evening on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh (where two of the members of the quintet had graduated from), and we set out from Heinz chapel to get the shots.  We went all around some of the iconic locations in Oakland to make promotional shots they wouldn't soon forget.

Plum Brass Quintet poses in front of Heinz Chapel

The first performance was in their hometown of Plum as a kick off for the Plum Library's Summer Reading Program, which had a music theme this year.  They were joined by their friend, Trevor, who filled in for trumpet player Matt.

Plum Brass Quintet performs at Plum Community Library

They then kicked off the season of summer with Make Music Day Pittsburgh at the Forbes Digital Plaza in Oakland.   This day brings about a celebration of music and the summer season, always happening on the summer solstice.  The Plum Brass Quintet was joined by Jenny, who filled in for Matt; Morgan, who filled in for trombone player Jon; and Spencer, who added percussion to the mix.

Make Music Day performers

Shortly thereafter, the brass quintet headlined the first ever Plum Summerfest (A re-branded community day in the borough of Plum).  Despite torrential downpours leading up the outdoor event, the actual concert was dry and ended with fireworks.  The main quintet was around for this concert, and they were again joined by Spencer on the drums and added vocalist Natalie into the performance.

Natalie performs with the Plum Brass Quintet at Plum Summerfest

Returning to the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, The Plum Brass Quintet partnered with the Shadyside Brass, musicians in residence of Heinz Chapel, to create the Summer Brasstacular!  Both groups did an outstanding job and Heinz Chapel made the music sound so much fuller.  It was also the premiere of "Annie's Song" which featured a trombone solo by Donna.

Donna performing her solo in "Annie's Song"

Finally, the end of the summer came back at home for the quintet at the Plum Community Center.  This was a collection of the greatest music from the summer tour and a great way to finish out the summer surrounded by all of the friends and family from their hometown.

Plum Brass Quintet performs in the Plum Community Center

HDIC Productions considers ourselves lucky to be able to have worked with such a fantastic group of young musicians.  We kept this relationship going into the winter months for their Holiday Tour, although we only made it out to about half of their shows instead of all of them.

The Plum Brass Quintet and the Shadyside Brass at Heinz Chapel

Either way, HDIC Productions is looking forward to the next music tour that we get invited on!

The Plum Brass Quintet walks away after a successful summer tour.

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Blog post © 2019 HDIC Productions.
All images © 2018 Allen Howard/HDIC Productions

Official Statement on the Tree of Life Synagogue Tragedy

We grieve as one community after the tragedy at the Tree of Life Synagogue here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  You always see it on the news, but you never think it’ll be your city you see in the headlines.  Today, it was our city.

Pittsburgh is a hub of education, technology, and medicine among other things. This hub creates such a diverse population in the city and surrounding areas. This has helped make Pittsburgh an inclusive community, one that accepts all people of all backgrounds.  We at HDIC Productions are proud to be a part of this beautiful city and stand by the value of diversity and inclusion.

The following days and weeks are no doubt going to be challenging for so many in our community, but know you are not alone.  We stand together, we stand as one.  We are Pittsburgh strong.

Sending all of our warm thoughts to those who need it,
Allen Howard
Operations Director, HDIC Productions

HDIC Events: Bakery Square Summer Kickoff

Every summer, Bakery Square in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh holds multiple concerts throughout the summer months.  They bring in music, food trucks, beer, and for the concert in July, a sandbox for a wonderful evening of entertainment.

Bakery Square in Pittsburgh during Sunset

For this past concert, their summer kickoff event, cover band Radio Tokyo performed.  I first saw them at last year’s Bakery Square Beach Party (the concert in July).  I’ve seen them a few other times since.

Radio Tokyo at Autumnfest at Seven Springs, October 2017

They perform all kinds of hits from the 2000s and even some older songs.  They enjoy audience interaction and people dancing in front of the stage.

Radio Tokyo has had recurring concerts at different bars in the tri-state area, and has performed regularly at Penn State.  Last year, during the Beach Party, they did a rendition of Sweet Caroline, which all the Pitt people at the event went nuts over; but now, knowing that they perform at Penn State all the time, I wonder if they had other intentions.

Regardless, if you get the chance, you should definitely check out Radio Tokyo.  You can find them on Facebook.

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All images copyright 2017-2018 Allen Howard/HDIC Productions.

HDIC Rules: Always Look Up

I’ve talked about many of rules before, such as always shoot in color and integrity before photography.  One of the other rules is “Always Look Up”.  Essentially, make sure to be observant.  If I wasn’t looking up, I would never have found this birds nest:

An American Robin perches on its nest.

This must have been right after the eggs hatched.  I was surprised by how close I could get to the nest without Mama and Papa robin screeching or attacking me (for the record, I was not attacked, and I had no intentions of trying to get them to attack me).

A picture taken with my GoPro, you can see the nest and the birds in the V of the tree.

By the time I was following them regularly, the chicks were already very large.  There were four of them. All very hungry, and all very crowded.

Four robin chicks.

I was fortunate to be around for several feedings, so I got to see some really cool things.

Feeding time for one of the chicks at the nest.

Well, all four birds fledged last week, so the nest is empty now, but it certainly was a fun week or so watching them on a daily basis.

A chick, looking like it was going to fly.

I’m still by the nest pretty frequently, watching it slowly weather away.  For those wondering, the nest was located by the George Westinghouse monument in Schenley Park.

The tree the nest was in, with the Westinghouse pond on the left.

So next time you’re out on the town, remember to look up!

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All images copyright 2018 Allen Howard/HDIC Productions