A country singer-songwriter, Molly Alphabet started performing with a full band in 2012 and is releasing her first full-length album this summer. In 2017, she released a five-song EP, “Traces.” Her nominator praised her for filling her band with talented local musicians and said she “has remained true to the genre while adding her own unique approach.” She’s a lifelong Lawrenceville resident. Listen to Molly Alphabet here.

When he was 12, Josh Bakaitus started his own production company and learned how to produce live concerts in his hometown of Charleroi. Now, he’s the talent buyer for the Live Nation Clubs & Theaters and books for venues including the Rex Theater, Heinz Hall, Smiling Moose and more. Bakaitus is also the owner of Secret Frnds, a boutique artist management and booking agency. There, he’s the managing partner for The Emo Band, a live band emo and pop punk karaoke party. He attended Westmoreland County Community College and lives in the West End.

Blak Rapp M.A.D.U.S.A. is a hip-hop artivist, poet and historian who uses hip hop “as a vessel to channel her powerful anthems for political movements for equity and human rights.” Their name, M.A.D.U.S.A, is an acronym for Making a Difference Using Skills and Activism. In 2018, their one-woman play “Mary’s Daughter: Memoirs of an Artivist” had five sold-out shows. The performer is also a youth mentor with multiple organizations, including New Voices Pittsburgh and Urban League Charter School. Blak Rapp M.A.D.U.S.A. strives to tell stories about the legacy of black women and girls, stories that are “told about us, rather than by us.” They live in Wilkinsburg and Philadelphia. Listen to their music here.

Redfishbowl, an artist collective, started in 2013 with a goal of promoting local art inside Delanie's Coffee in the South Side with Chris Boles as one of the founders. Redfishbowl has since grown and now creates arts festivals in unlikely locations, fundraises for charity and works to benefit the entire arts community. Plus, it’s an indie label for bands and visual artists. As co-founder and manager, Chris Boles leads events booking, sales and marketing for the collective. “His creativity, initiative, and passion for music and art — and his willingness to make shit happen — make him a force in this region,” his nominator wrote. Boles is a graduate of Mercyhurst University and lives in Lawrenceville.  Listen to Bat Zuppel, a Redfishbowl artist, here.

JP Pitt and Joel Carter aka Barz Blackman are BBGuns, an indie duo that combines hip-hop with indie rock and pop. “BBGuns makes original fresh music that appeals to a wide variety of people here,” their nominator wrote. In addition to performing, the duo has organized events in the Pittsburgh area for nearly 10 years. Pitt lives in Bloomfield, and Carter lives in New Kensington.

Leslie Chabala brings music and technology together for high school students. The music and computer science teacher started working at Nazareth Prep in Emsworth when it opened in 2014. In her classes, students write, record, produce and perform songs based off a theme, and her students also study how music impacts film. Chabala leads the school’s band and plays in an ‘80s synthpop-style band called Take Me With You, which is releasing its first album in May. A graduate of Duquesne University, she lives in Squirrel Hill. Listen to Take Me With You here.

André Costello started The Cool Minors as a solo project in 2011, but over the next few years, it became a full band with Costello as the lead singer and chief songwriter. In 2015, the band released its first full-length album on vinyl with a sold-out show at the Andy Warhol Museum. In 2018, they debuted their second record at the Buhl Planetarium with a choreographed laser show. Costello is also the owner of Costello Creative Design and is a member of the teen services team at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where he works with teens, teaching them design, as well as how to record in the music studio. He lives in Brookline. Listen to André Costello and The Cool Minors here.

Lauren Goshinski describes her work as at “the intersection of music, performance, and the moving image.” She co-founded VIA, an audio-visual festival in Pittsburgh that provides visibility to women, LGBTQ and other marginalized artists in electronic music. She’s also a touring DJ and a founding member of girlFx, which supports leadership opportunities for female, trans and non-binary people in nightlife. Goshinski has worked with Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh Filmmakers / Center for the Arts to promote local artists. She lives in Friendship and is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh.

Caitlin Gotimer moved to Pittsburgh in September 2018 and has performed in three operas including “Hansel & Gretel” as a resident artist with the Pittsburgh Opera. In December, she won the “Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions” — aka the “American Idol” for opera — for the Pittsburgh District and later placed third at the Great Lakes Regionals. Next season, she will be the title role in "Alcina" and have a featured role in the new opera “The Last American Hammer.” She’s a graduate of Binghamton University and the University of Cincinnati. Gotimer lives in the Strip District. Watch Gotimer perform here.

This bio has been corrected to accurately list Gotimer's roles for next season.

Kelly Hiser combined her skills as a musician and a historian to co-found Rabble in 2014. The software company is behind MUSICat, an open-source platform that allows libraries to create online local music collections. STACKS, the MUSICat-powered collection at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh launched in February. Hiser is graduate of Slippery Rock University and the Universities of Miami and Wisconsin. She lives in Brookline.

As the coordinator of individual support for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Christina Hsu is the campaign manager for grassroots telefunding efforts. She leads script creating, budget management and more. Hsu also designs and leads digital fundraising strategies for the three campaigns that the PSO does each year. She was born in Taiwan and moved to Columbus when she was 11 years old. Hsu now lives in Penn Hills and is a graduate of Denison University.

Elias Khouri is a funk, soul, and rock ’n’ roll guitarist who is inspired by the music of Led Zeppelin, Santana, Aerosmith and The Eagles. He’s performed at both local and national music festivals. That includes Picklesburgh where his nominator first saw Khouri perform and wrote that “his voice, stage presence, guitar talents and range of music was amazing. I felt at that moment, and still believe, that this young man is going to be a rockstar someday and that someday will be sooner than later.” A student at Nazareth Prep, he will attend Point Park University in the fall and plans to study sports, arts and entertainment management. He lives in Polish Hill.

Edward Leonard founded the Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh, a non-profit ensemble, in 2014. He’s also been the music director since the start of the ensemble. As a guest conductor, he’s performed with the Pittsburgh Youth Chamber Orchestra and is the principal guest conductor for Ovrearts New Music Ensemble and the Savoyards Pittsburgh. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting, he spent summers at the Pierre Monteux School for Orchestra Conductors in Maine. Leonard lives in Greenfield. Listen to the Chamber Orchestra perform here.

Music is a way to create creative communities, empower students and work toward social justice, Amos Levy told The Incline. He is the music technology coordinator for YMCA Lighthouse, an afterschool program that empowers students to better their communities through media arts and leadership. He’s also is co-director of Tuff Sound Apprenticeship Program, a nonprofit that teaches audio engineering and production to teens. He performs as DJ Thermos and plays lead synthesizer for the band Chantillion. A graduate of Duquesne University, he lives in Regent Square. Listen to DJ Thermos here.

A hip hop recording artist, Mario Quinn Lyles is the founder and executive director of Level Up Studios, a creative arts space in Garfield. Level Up offers dance, martial arts, design, creative writing and piano lessons in one place and “serves as a creative playground for underserved youth, local artists/ musicians and cultural enthusiasts,” per its website. Lyles, who is also a dancer and visual artist, additionally founded Level Up Music Group, an independent label focused on young musicians. He’s a teaching artist at Kelly Strayhorn Theater and lives in Homewood.

Sharon Mok is a singer-songwriter who performs as Tiny Rhymes and is also a member of the indie rock group The Real Sea. In addition to performing, Mok works with young musicians as a guitar teacher for the after-school program at the South Hills Interfaith Movement, which serves refugee and immigrant families and is on the board of directors for Girls Rock! Pittsburgh. She also is a self-employed concert piano technician. A graduate of Florida State, Western and Queen’s universities, she lives in Edgewood. Listen to Tiny Rhymes here.

Hussein Pwono — aka pvkvsv — uses elements of smooth jazz, flamenco and Italian film scores as inspiration for the music he creates. A beatmaker and emerging producer, he told The Incline  that he’s “constantly experimenting and pushing his personal boundaries, a persistent theme through the lo-fi hip hop music he produces.” A Congolese-American, he grew up learning traditional songs and released his first album, "peels 2," in January. He lives in Highland Park.

Singer Patience Roy’al told The Incline that her love of music started when she was just a toddler. Since then, she embraced learning about music and learned to play the piano and violin. An artist with 1 Hood Media, her bio stresses her confidence as an artist: “With a flare of sass & passion, she never fails to show herself throughout her performances.” The singer lives in Turtle Creek. Listen to her sing here.

Wade Rue Jr. aka Way~D is a composer who produces his music through Dreamslide Productions. A Pittsburgh native and Creative and Performance Arts High School alumnus, the composer is inspired by the different sounds of the city and works to tell stories through his instrumental-only compositions. While he spends most of his time in the studio as a mix engineer, he also performs solo and with other artists on stage. He told The Incline that he’s a proud advocate for the arts and hopes to inspire others. He lives in Rankin. Listen to his music here.

While she’d written and played music for years, Jenny Sines started to take it more seriously after moving to the Pittsburgh area in 2015. And two years later, Jenny And The Jags formed, which Sines describes as adding a rock ’n’ roll energy to her acoustic songwriting. Sines also recently started a second band, Truffle Club, to explore different styles from jazz to country. She also is active in Millvale’s music scene and helped with the Millvale Music Festival by booking musicians and venues. In addition, Sines is the founder of Millvale Yoga Collective, which provides donation-based yoga to a variety of students. She lives in Millvale. Listen to Truffle Club here.

Alex Stanton is the folk-pop singer behind townsppl, a band that ranges from Stanton performing solo to him with up to 10 other performers. 91.3FM WYEP named townsppl and its album “Twigs” as a top local act of 2018. Stanton is also the founder of Sunburst School of Music in Squirrel Hill, which opened in 2011. His nominator praised the school for working with people of all ages and wrote that “Sunburst music recitals are great community events where everyone supports and appreciates the performers.”  Stanton lives in Polish Hill. Listen to townsppl here.

Sam Stucky released his first full-length album, “Movement,” in June 2018. On the album, he wrote the songs, sings and plays multiple instruments. His nominator praised Stucky for music that “humbly pulls poignant social messages about peace, justice, and love” and noted that Stucky often performs at volunteer events and fundraisers, including a benefit for Jewish Family and Community Services after the Tree of Life massacre. Stucky is currently working on an acoustic project, expected to be released this summer. He also works at Higher Achievement where he helps Pittsburgh Public School students with their academics and is on the staff of Climbing Wall Pittsburgh. A graduate of Bluffton University, Stucky lives in Point Breeze. Listen to Stucky’s music here.