LIVING LEGACY—Honoree and retired Pittsburgh Symphony pianist
Patricia Prattis Jennings experiences the Oral History exhibit PNC
Legacy Building. She and Urban League President and CEO Esther Bush,
background, were among the 12 honorees in the Black History Month
display.
Patricia Prattis Jennings (b. 1941)
Pianist Patricia
Prattis Jennings became the first African American woman ever to be awarded a
full contract by a major American symphony orchestra breaking centuries of
discrimination in the world of classical music.
In 1966 she became the principal
keyboardist for the Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra playing piano, harpsichord, organ and celesta. She gained
national attention working with Arthur Fielder, Benny Goodman, and
Andrew Previn. In 1971 Arthur Fielder hired
her for a series of concerts with the World Symphony Orchestra. She
performed Gershwin's
"Rhapsody in Blue" with legendary clarinetist Benny Goodman in 1977 in
concerts at
New York’s Carnegie Hall, Wolftrap, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in
Los Angeles, and Concord Pavilion in California.
Appearing on the 1977 premiere of the PBS series "Previn and the Pittsburgh" Jennings performed
four-hand Mozart sonatas with Andre Previn. She appeared as a soloist again on
"Previn and the Pittsburgh” in 1978 performing the Mozart Concerto for Two
Pianos with the Pittsburgh Symphony. Jennings gained critical acclaim for her performance of the Gershwin Concerto in F on the
Pittsburgh Symphony's 1987 international tour appearing at festivals in Hong
Kong, Osaka, Tokyo, and Edinburgh Scotland.
Jennings is one of the duo pianists on Pittsburgh Symphony’s award winning
recording of Saint Saens "Carnival of the Animals". She is a Steinway piano artist and was honored as a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania.
Patricia
Prattis Jennings was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1941. Her father P.L.
Prattis, was the editor of the Pittsburgh Courier and a classical music fan. Her
mother played classical piano.
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