About The Program | Meet The Artists in Residence

About The Program

Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting is seeking to elevate the profile of area musicians and give them experience in composing music in a professional setting for professional applications, and to bring a new variety of musical voices to Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting’s on-air and online programming: something distinctively Pittsburgh.

The artists will compose, arrange, perform, and record original instrumental compositions that will be used as show themes, transitional music beds, and in other settings in WYEP’s and WESA’s on-air, digital, and video content. Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation developed the Artist in Residence program to help support the diversity of talent that is a vital component in Pittsburgh’s musical ecosystem. The submission window to apply to be in the next cohort of local musicians is planned for June.

“This is part of WYEP’s ongoing work to support the talent that makes Pittsburgh music so strong and exciting,” said Mike Sauter, Vice President of Broadcasting at Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting. “By commissioning music from area musicians, we can help more creative voices to be heard, as well as giving listeners a taste of what our musical community can create.”

“WYEP shines a spotlight on area musicians every day by playing their music and keeping music fans informed about local concerts,” added Brian Siewiorek, Director of Creative Services at Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting. “The Artists in Residence program is a more direct way that we can work with musicians in the region to share their craft with a wider audience.”

Meet The WYEP/WESA Artists in Residence

Lauren DeMichiei

Lauren DeMichiei (dee • ma • shay) is a music producer, songwriter, vocalist & the principal of ElectricRed Ltd. She works with artists to excavate unrecorded and unreleased tunes from their songbooks to renew them to their full potential and creates remixes or re-imaginations of already published works. In addition, she creates customized sound compositions for picture, sync, and audio applications.

Photo by Heather Mull

INEZ

INEZ is a producer, singer-songwriter, performing artist and audio engineer from Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood. INEZ is a Berklee College of Music alumna (BPS; Music Production). INEZ received the Carol R. Brown Achievement Award as an Emerging Artist in 2021, by The Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation, and Opportunity Fund. INEZ headlined City Theater's Drive-In Arts Festival in 2020 and most recently, headlined Pittsburgh's Highmark First Night 2023. INEZ is CEO and co-creator of BLKNVMBR, a media and promotional house uplifting the Black R&B and R&B-adjacent musicians of Pittsburgh.

Photo by Raymond Aidoo at Pixelray Photography

Daniel Ocanto

Daniel Ocanto is a sound designer and multi-instrumentalist who has toured nationally and internationally with a diverse range of artists and contributed to multiple recordings as a studio musician. He has composed and performed as a member of Dust Ensemble, whose score for Hillary Bettis’ Alligator (The Sol Project/New Georges) earned him and his collaborators a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Music in a Play. He earned a second nomination in the same category for his work on Adam Seidel’s Original Sound (Cherry Lane Theatre). A proud first-generation Venezuelan-American from Nebraska, he now lives in Pittsburgh where he is an MFA candidate in Sound Design at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama.

RJ Dietrich

RJ Dietrich made his first recordings in his home state of Florida using a 4-track machine when he was 14 years old. He continued working on audio production, upgrading his recording gear and making records for himself and others. He moved to Pennsylvania in 2007 with his wife Karen and they started the band Essential Machine. RJ records and produces music at Blue Sofa Studios.

Dutch Jordan

Dutch Jordan is a multi-hyphenate singer-songwriter, artist, and producer who has been creating music since they were 11 years old. Jordan draws upon a wide diversity of genres, techniques, and philosophies to accomplish their sound. They are currently working on multiple album projects they intend to release in 2023.

Andrew Muse

Andrew Muse is a queer singer-songwriter and musician born and raised in Pittsburgh. He has been making and independently distributing his own music for about 5 years. He has played all over town. When discussing his career aspirations, Andrew said “I hope to play out of town and all around the world sometime soon!”

Kirk Salopek

Kirk Salopek has been writing, recording and performing music in Pittsburgh for over 30 years. Throughout the early 2000's he led the cinematic group Mandrake Project. In the last 15 years he has composed a wide range of music for film, radio & television servicing clients such as SHOWTIME, SXSW, NPR & PBS. In 2011, he started the group Silencio who gained worldwide attention for their live performances of director David Lynch's film soundtracks and the group also recorded 2 albums worth of critically acclaimed original material. More recently, he's worked with UK based music licensing agencies BAM & We Are Golden while forming studio projects "66" and “Three Easy Secrets”. He is currently recording a new album and performing with the rock n' roll outfit The Regal Sweet.

Cameron Warren

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, Cameron Warren is a man of many trades. Being a self-taught producer (iCamW Productions), multi-instrumentalist, singer, rapper, mix and mastering engineer, cinematographer, and digital designer, his passion to learn and discover new crafts has proven strong. His music often sonically reveals a story or musical elements to evoke an emotion pulling the listener into the scene. "Art is a form of expression," says Warren going on to say, "...every piece of art doesn't have to have a deep philosophical meaning to it; a lot of times it was just pure enjoyment to create." He believes art is a universal language that can play a powerful role in society. Cameron is grateful for the ability to navigate various dialects of creativity and aspires to build a platform that will allow others the opportunity to fully tap into their creative side and collaborate with other like-minded individuals.

pvkvsv

pvkvsv (pah•kah'•sah) is an emerging beatmaker, producer, and DJ from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While pvkvsv’s musical influence certainly stems from artists such as Mndsgn, Knxwledge, Madlib & Hubert Daviz, his art also suggests that his hip-hop roots are woven into his production as well as his grasps on jazz, electronic music, sounds from various world regions, and film scores as the thread. His instrumentals are often topped with environmental nature cues to create a more immersive experience for listeners to ground themselves in. He first became known as a beatmaker performing all original beat sets on festival stages such as 2018’s The City: Music Festival at Spirit Lodge. pvkvsv would go on to gain production credits from INEZ, NVSV, FRH Golden, JM The Poet, Driving While Black Records, & Treble NLS. He released his first instrumental album, peels 2, in January 2019 as part of the Stacks Collection at The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. After incorporating live DJ sets into his musical repertoire, he would go on to launch his radio show “Currents”, playing shows such as the “6th Annual Music City Festival” in New Jersey, performing his ambient music in several Pittsburgh music series and was a DJ at the 58th Carnegie International’s Opening Ceremony at The Carnegie Museum of Art.

This program is supported by a grant from the Hillman Foundation to foster arts and culture in the Pittsburgh region.