Over the summer, we traveled to Elgin, IL, to help Elgin Community College celebrate its 75th anniversary. The Arts Center hosted three performances of Brouhaha. We had beautiful weather while we were there!
Our summer tour included several days of shows at the Des Moines Performing Arts Center, where we performed Brouhaha outdoors at Cowles Commons. It was our second time in Des Moines, and it was wonderful: perfect weather, awesome local crew, and warm audiences.
Co-Artistic Director Jackie Dempsey gave an interview with the local NBC station while we were there.
On August 4-6, we were in Chautauqua, NY, to help the Chautauqua Institution celebrate its 150th anniversary. In addition to performing Brouhaha in their historic amphitheater known as “The Amp,” we also did a workshop with local kids.
Co-Artistic Director Steve O’Hearn talked about Squonk’s connection to Chautauqua in an interview on WRFA-FM’s “Arts on Fire.”
On July 27, our giant purple hands made another appearance at an Open Streets PGH event.
We are always glad to partner with BikePGH on this wonderful, free community event. Open Streets opens miles of city streets for people to walk, run, bike, and explore spaces that would otherwise be used by motor vehicles.
The Squonkers had a blast at the Carnegie Museum of Art’s Summer Exhibitions Celebration, part of their "Inside Out" series. On July 20, audiences joined us as we transformed trash into musical instruments we could wear. We then choreographed these jingling, honking costumes for everyone, with a full rhythm section backing and drum major leading.
We’re excited to announce our fall tour dates for Brouhaha! We kick off in September with two dates at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, IL.
We’ll then head to Canada for performances in Hamilton and Calgary. First up is our return to Supercrawl, Hamilton’s premier multi-arts festival. Then we’ll appear at Beakerhead, “the biggest, STEAM-iest, explosive, brain-busting science spectacle in Calgary.”
We head back to the states for shows in October at ARTSwego at SUNY Oswego, followed by performances on the campus of Hamilton College in Clinton, NY.
Our fall tour ends in El Paso, TX, where we’ll perform for the third time at Chalk the Block, the largest public arts festival in the region.
We hope you can join us for one of these free shows!
Urbana, IL: Sept. 6 and 7 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois; Performances at 5:15 p.m. on September 6 and 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on September 7
Hamilton, Canada: Sept. 13-15 at Supercrawl; Performances at 6 and 8 p.m. on September 13; 1, 4 and 8 p.m. on September 14; and 1 and 4 p.m. on September 15
Calgary, Canada: Sept. 20-22 at Beakerhead; Performances at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on September 20, 2 p.m., 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on September 21 and noon and 5:30 p.m. on September 22
Oswego, NY: Oct. 3 and 4 at ARTSwego at SUNY Oswego; Performances at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on October 3 and 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. on October 4
Clinton, NY: Oct. 5 and 6 at Wellin Hall/Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts; Performances at 4 p.m. on October 5 and 2 p.m. on October 6
El Paso, TX: Oct. 11-13 at Chalk the Block; Performances at 7 p.m.on October 11, 11 a.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on October 12 and 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on October 13
On July 14, Squonk in the Neighborhood traveled to Wilkinsburg for “Rock the Block,” the summer block party held by Ethnan Temple. Teaching Artists Mia and Isabella made tambourines from repurposed materials with a group of super creative kids.
We love Squonking our home town! On July 4, we performed Brouhaha at Point State Park as part of the city’s Independence Day Celebration.
On June 29, we took Brouhaha to Bridgewater, PA, for the “Boom on the Bridge” festival. After all of these years Squonkin’ in WPA, this was our first ever gig in Beaver County.
Photos by Erin Ninehouser/Rustbelt Mayberry Photography. A huge thank you to Visit Beaver County and Beaver County Boom for the photos.
Our giant purple hands greeted participants at Open Streets PGH on June 29.
We are always glad to partner with BikePGH on this wonderful, free community event. Open Streets opens miles of city streets for people to walk, run, bike, and explore spaces that would otherwise be used by motor vehicles.
On June 29, the event took place from the Historic Hill District to Northside. We’ll join them again on July 27 for their event in East End and Homewood.
We kicked off our summer tour in our home state of Pennsylvania! We performed at Penn State in New Kensington on June 21 as part of a fundraiser themed “ARTificial Intelligence: Elevating Art Through AI.”
A few new Squonk techs were at this gig to learn the ropes. Join us in welcoming Isabella, Kadey, and Corey to the team!
Squonk’s teaching artists had a busy few weeks in Pittsburgh! We took our giant inflatable hands from Hand to Hand over to Blawnox on June 15 for their Summer Art Fling. Attendees had a chance to grab the rigging and power the fingers on these enormous purple puppets. A big thanks to Blawnox Borough and The Best Of Blawnox for arranging the event.
On June 18, teaching artist Lindsay and newest Squonker Isabella traveled to Forest Hills. As part of the C.C. Mellor Memorial Library Summer Block Party, they made tambourines from repurposed materials.
On June 22, Lindsay and teaching artist Tony joined Assemble for their Film Crew Camp. They led a new workshop called “Music and Sound EFX in Film: An introduction to Foley Work.” You can tell by all of the smiling faces that it was a big hit and lots of fun for all involved.
We wrapped up our tour of the Carolinas with a return to Raleigh, North Carolina, on May 18-19.
This was our third time performing at Artsplosure (Raleigh’s longest running arts festival) and our fifth visit to Raleigh over the years.
Raleigh is absolutely one of our most favorite cities to play in. In addition to performing Brouhaha, the festival asked us to bring our giant inflatable hands from Hand to Hand to be an art installation.
Photos by FizzCats Photography, Coco Butter Shutter, and Squonk.
During our tour of the Carolinas, we returned to the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, South Carolina. We enjoyed two days performing Brouhaha on their outdoor Plaza Stage.
Photos by Jay Overbay, Gordon Humphries and Squonk.
We kicked off a tour of the Carolinas in Greenville, SC, at Artisphere, a festival we have been wanting to play for years.
We were so excited to be part of their 20th anniversary. We set up our stage in the beautiful Falls Park Amphitheatre.
Photos by Creagh Cross and Squonk.
We kicked off our 2024 tour last week in Columbus, Ohio. We performed Brouhaha at the Big Science Celebration, hosted by the Center of Science and Industry. This was our second time at the event, which features 100+ exhibitor stations with hands-on science.
We have a busy summer planned with Brouhaha. We’re kicking it off with three gigs in our home state of Pennsylvania! First up, we’ll be in New Kensington, PA, at Penn State for ARTificial Intelligence: Elevating Art Through AI.
Then we’ll travel to Bridgewater, PA, for their Boom on the Bridge event, Beaver County’s premier music, art, and fireworks festival at the iconic Veterans Bridge.
We’ll keep the fireworks going by performing at Pittsburgh’s 2024 Independence Day Celebration and Fireworks on July 4 at Point State Park.
In August, we’ll travel to Chautauqua, NY, to help the Chautauqua Institution celebrate its 150th anniversary.
Then we’re off to the Midwest for several days of performances at the Des Moines Performing Arts Center.
Our summer tour ends in Elgin, IL, where we’ll help Elgin Community College celebrate its 75th anniversary.
We hope you can join us for one of these free shows!
New Kensington, PA: June 21 at Penn State; Our free performance is at 6:30 p.m. in the Athletic Center Parking Lot prior to a Penn State fundraiser
Bridgewater, PA: June 29 at Boom on the Bridge; Performances at 3:30 and 6 p.m.
Pittsburgh, PA: July 4 at Point State Park; Performances at 5:15 and 7:15 p.m.
Chautauqua, NY: August 4 and 6 at Chautauqua Institution; Performances at 2:30 p.m. on August 4 and 7:30 p.m. on August 6
Des Moines, IA: August 9-11 at Des Moines Performing Arts; Performances at 6:30 p.m. on August 9, 10:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 PM on August 10, and 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on August 11
Elgin, IL: August 16-18 at Elgin Community College Arts Center; Performances at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. on August 16; 11 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. on August 17; and 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on August 18
Photo by Elise Coates. Graphic Design by David Wallace.
Squonk Teaching Artists Tony and Lindsay took their rhythm workshop to the wonderful Millvale Community Library on March 16. They led music and movement games showing how rhythm plays a part in each of our lives.
It’s almost time to take Brouhaha back on the road. We’re kicking off our 2024 tour in May in Columbus, Ohio, at the COSI Science Festival. It’s our second time performing at this hands-on science extravaganza.
Next, we’ll travel to Greenville, South Carolina, for the 20th anniversary of Artisphere, a three-day arts festival.
We’ll continue on to Columbia, South Carolina, where we’ll return to the Koger Center for the Arts for two days of performances.
Then we’ll be in North Carolina for Artsplosure. This is our third time performing at Raleigh’s original and longest-running arts festival.
We hope you can Squonk with us in one of these cities!
Columbus, Ohio: May 4 at the COSI Science Festival; Performances at noon and 2:30 p.m.
Greenville, South Carolina: May 10-12 at Artisphere; Performances at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on May 10; noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on May 11; and 2 and 4 p.m. on May 12
Columbia, South Carolina: May 15-16 at the Koger Center for the Arts; Performances at 6 p.m. on May 15 and 16
Raleigh, North Carolina: May 18-19 at Artsplosure; Performances at 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. on May 18, and at 1 and 3:30 p.m. on May 19
Squonk is looking to hire a committed Touring Stage Technician/Performer. We have a full season ahead of us and are looking for someone to work every gig August through October for this year, with possible long-term opportunities as well.
We are a Pittsburgh-based ensemble that The New York Times has called "a multimedia troupe of infinite jest with an imagination to match." Our current show, Brouhaha, is entering its first full season of touring. Squonk has performed across the U.S. and internationally, from Rhode Island to Texas, Lincoln Center to The Kennedy Center, China to Canada! To see photos and videos of Brouhaha, visit our show page.
We offer professional wages plus we cover all travel expenses, including per diem, hotel, and airfare. Average out-of-town runouts are 3-7 days. Additional work can include driving our 26-foot box truck, with a fellow Squonker, to our destinations.
This position is a cross between a performer/puppeteer and a technician.
You will need to be comfortable in front of an audience, as you will march in an opening parade with a giant spinning eye...
…play the giant bellows….
…invite the audience to join you…
…make the large-scale eyes dance in the finale…
And there’s much to do backstage as well, like working the giant horns.
You can see all of the action in our videos on our Brouhaha page.
Having basic technical skills is a plus. Every crew member has responsibilities with loading and unloading the truck and building and tearing down the set. As you can imagine, the position takes a certain level of physical agility, strength, and fitness. The job is very high-energy and requires a lot of running around and, since all performances are outdoors, you must be comfortable working in the heat and humidity at times.
This person needs to be sharp enough to run their position and know their cues in the half-hour shows without a stage manager’s assistance. The ideal candidate will participate in all the gigs in August through October.
Please reach out to Company Manager Caroline Babik at caroline@squonkopera.org with your resume and what interests you about this position and working with Squonk.
