Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces Highmark First Night lineup
An ice maze is one of the highlights of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s New Year’s Eve celebration.
It was announced last week that Richard Bubin, a master ice carver and founder of Ice Creations, will create an immersive wale-though maze of giant ice blocks five feet high for Highmark First Night. It will be specially designed and carved for the Backyard at 8th and Penn. An ice maze was first part of Highmark First Night eight years ago.
Other highlights include “Intensional Particle,” from choreographer and multidisciplinary artist Hiroaki Umeda. It’s a high-intensity dance and digital imagery installation at Wood Street Galleries.
Familiar favorites and traditions will also be part of First Night, starting with the Dollar Bank Children’s Fireworks at 6 p.m. in front of the Benedum Center. Immediately after the kick-off event, the winner of the Williams Sing-Off Competition will perform. The winner will be introduced by the competition’s special guest judge, Nick Cortazzo, a Pittsburgh native and New York transplant performing as Link Larkin in the national tour of “Hairspray” that will be at the Benedum Center in January.
Inez, a Homewood resident, will be the headliner on the Highmark Stage from 10:45 p.m. to midnight. The Pittsburgh Artist of the Year for WYEP-FM in 2020, she is a Berklee College of Music alumna. The performance is set to conclude with the Future of Pittsburgh Grand Finale, featuring the annual raising of the Future of Pittsburgh Ball, high atop Penn Avenue Place.
All events are free, though VIP tickets are available. Additional information is available at trustarts.org.