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ConnectionsNorthern Connection Magazine. . . Connecting You to the Community for 11 Years! Northern Connection Magazine has been a proud co-sponsor of The Glimmer of Hope every fall since 2004. Northern Connection Magazine, along with Glimmer of Hope Founder Diana Napper, Pittsburgh Steeler offensive guard Alan Faneca and his wife Julie, and other Steeler players, help to raise money for breast cancer research by providing a wonderful evening of fun and a chance for the public to meet some of their favorite Steeler players. This special event, held each fall, offers attendees an opportunity to purchase fantastic items at the silent auction. For more information on the Glimmer of Hope event and jewelry log on to glimmerofhopepin.org or call 1-800-454-6746. Click here for article and photos of the 2005 Bid for Hope held on October 17, 2005. See also Guiding Light Stars Support Reach for Recovery held on April 6, 2008. Northern Connection Magazine is a proud sponsor for the Kean Theatre. Featured on the cover of the May 2005 and the May 2006 issues and inside every issue of Northern Connection Magazine, the Kean Theatre in Gibsonia is a part of the St. Barnabas Charitable Foundations. The facility is a beautiful, state-of-the-art theatre where terrific performances can be experienced. Call for tickets or visit their web site at www.keantheatre.com. Northern Connection Magazine has proudly sponsored the Kean Idol every spring since 2004. Kean Idol is a local version of the popular TV hit "American Idol." The public is invited to be a part of the audience and also participate in the voting process. This event is the perfect opportunity to not only raise dollars for the St. Barnabas Charitable Foundation, but to showcase the Kean theatre and bring the community together for an evening of fun! Photos and articles on Kean Idol shows: 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 Marion Piotrowski, publisher of Northern Connection Magazine, is a member of the Board of Trustees for St. Barnabas Charitable Foundation, the St. Barnabas Community Advisory Committee, and the Founder's Day Committee. In addition, she is Chairperson of the St. Barnabas Fashion Gala. Click here for photos of various Foundation events. May 2008 Northern Connection Guiding Light Stars Support “Reach to Recovery”By Rosemary Garrity What could be better? For hundreds of women who attended the Reach to Recovery event on April 6, meeting their favorite Guiding Light stars and supporting a breast cancer initiative was simply a dream come true. For Guiding Light fans, having Jeffrey, Frank, Josh and Reva there was very special. People came from Maryland and New York simply to see them. These actors came to Pittsburgh to support this event and were available for conversation and photos at a “meet and greet’ session. Many of the attendees had their pictures taken with their favorite actors, had lunch, enjoyed a fashion show and learned more about breast cancer from some survivors who spoke.
Frank Dicopoulos, who plays Frank Cooper on the soap, made this possible. Frank, who still has family ties in the Pittsburgh area, brought his co-stars to Pittsburgh to help raise awareness about breast cancer. “My grandmother had breast cancer and my mother-in-law had breast cancer, and this is a disease that I want to eradicate,” Dicopoulos said. “It’s taken too many good people.” He met Lisa Edmonds, the executive director of The Young Women’s Breast Cancer Foundation at a charity event and decided to support her cause. “The actors really supported our goal and the foundation and stepped up to the plate more than we could have imagined,” Edmonds said. This foundation has a goal to educate as many women as possible about breast cancer and the importance of early detection. When the foundation sponsors events, the funds that are raised are donated to the Reach to Recovery program offered by the American Cancer Society. This program matches survivors with women who have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. The survivors can offer these women the kind of support that they need because they truly understand what these women are experiencing. For more information call 412-490-9808. October 2005 Northern Connection A Bid for Hope 2005
Northern Connection Magazine was proud to be a part of this successful gala. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Diana Napper, founder of Glimmer of Hope Foundation, Pittsburgh Steeler Alan Faneca and his wife Julie, this year’s event was a great success! Bid for Hope IV was a sell out with more than 500 tickets sold. The proceeds from this event support breast cancer research, moving us closer to the cure. “The generosity of everyone involved is overwhelming,” Napper said.
St. Barnabas Charities’ Founder’s Day 2008
St. Barnabas Health System president and CEO William V. Day presented the award to Reynolds. The annual award honors a person of national renown who has made a significant impact on the lives of Americans. The dinner was attended by nearly 400 guests and grossed $102,000. Proceeds from Founder’s Day 2008 benefit the St. Barnabas Free Care Fund. June 2006 Northern Connection 2006 St. Barnabas Charitable Foundation Founder's Day Celebration
June 2005 Northern Connection 2005 St. Barnabas Charitable Foundation Founder's Day CelebrationMichael Reagan receives Hance AwardSt. Barnabas Charitable Foundation held their Founder's Day celebration on May 5. The event featured Michael Reagan, eldest son of the late President Ronald Reagan, as the guest speaker and recipient of the Hance Award. Proceeds raised benefit the St. Barnabas Charitable Foundation's Free Care Fund. Marion Piotrowski, Publisher of Northern Connection Magazine, served on the Founder's Day committee.
Kean Idol Winners Come from Near and Far
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Northern
Connection Magazine’s October cover and cover story highlighted
the Glimmer of Hope Foundation, which focuses on acquiring money for breast cancer
research. The Bid for Hope is one of the foundation’s major fundraisers.
This year’s event was held Oct. 17th at Bossa Nova restaurant in Pittsburgh. 
Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds was honored with this year’s Hance Award at St. Barnabas Charities’ Founder’s Day 2008. The day-long celebration was held on April 24. Reynolds visited St. Barnabas Nursing Home, attended an exclusive fund-raising luncheon at The Washington Place and a fund-raising dinner and silent auction at the Omni William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. 
Jessica Saenz, 17, of Latrobe is ajunior at Greater Latrobe Senior High School. She captured the Judges’ Choice award this year at the Kean Idol Vocal Championship on Friday, April 9, at the Kean Theatre. The daughter of Lori and Robert Saenz, Jessica performed “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone. This was Saenz’s second year competing for the title of Kean Idol. “It feels like a dream to be a winner. When they announced the first and second runner-up, I thought well, I’ve lost. It was kind of a shock,” Saenz said. “This year I concentrated on communicating my song and connecting to the audience.”
Paige Copper, 11, is another Westmoreland County native and winner of this year’s Audience Choice Vocal award. Copper is a sixth grader at Pennsylvania Cyber School and the daughter of Linda Copper. She performed “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” by Dionne Warwick. “I’ve been singing since I was a toddler, and my mom liked that song. I just picked it up,” Copper said. She thought the competition was really fun and although she was nervous, she said that’s good. “You have to be a bit nervous to perform well.”
Josef Hartman, 12, of Muddy Creek Township, Butler County, won the Judges’ Choice Dance Award on March 26. He is the son of Joanne and Tom Hartman and is a sixth grader at St. Gregory. He performed a tap number to “Rhythmatic.” “It felt awesome to win because there were a lot of really good dancers. I work hard at dance because it is my passion, and it feels good when people recognize my hard work. When they announced that I won, I heard my sister, family and friends scream and cheer. It felt good to make them proud,” Hartman said.
Faith Kraynik, 13, of Cranberry Township snagged the Audience Choice
Monica Kramer, 38, of Monessen won the Judges’ Choice winner in the 2010 Kean Idol Adult Vocal Amateur Talent Contest, which was held on March 7 at the Kean Theatre. She sang “On My Knees” by Jaque Velesquez.
Joel Smith, 25, of Follansbee, West Virginia, won the Audience Choice award. Smith performed “Cry Me a River” by Michael Bublé.
After weeks of competition, the winners of the 2008 Kean Idol Amateur Talent Contest were announced. On April 11, Alex Ammons, a 14-year-old from Shaler Twp. won the Kean Idol Audience Choice Vocal Award at the Kean Theatre. Winning the Greg Maggio Judges’ Choice Dance Award was Deborah Katz, 20, of Pittsburgh.
On March 30, the winners of the dance competition were announced. The duo of Michael Caye and Josselyn Fester (left) of Pittsburgh won the Audience Choice Dance Award, while Taylor Green and Annie Rosellini (right) of Butler won the Greg Maggio Judges’ Choice Dance Award.
Madison
Georgi, a 14-year old from Hampton Township, achieved something no one
else has ever accomplished before. She captured both the favor of the judges
and the audience, winning two titles—the Audience Choice Vocal Award and
the Greg Maggio Judges Choice Vocal Award—at the 2007 Kean Idol Vocal and
Dance Contest at the Kean Theatre on Friday, March 30.
A ninth grader at Hampton High School, Georgi performed “Take My Hand” a
song she composed as a fund-raiser for autism research. “It was so
exciting and to win both awards was amazing,” Georgi said. “I
tried to tell a story with my voice.” |
Kean Idol winners with Northern Connection publisher Marion Piotrowski (second from left) are, from left: Rachel Miller, Elena Falgione, and Kathryn Knapp. |
An array of singers and dancers took center stage March 5, 12, 19 & 25 at the Kean Theatre in Gibsonia to showcase their talent and help raise money for the St. Barnabas Health System’s Free Care Fund.
This year’s annual Kean Idol competition netted more than $18,000 to help defer the health care cost of patients at St. Barnabas Nursing Home, Valencia Woods at St. Barnabas and the Arbors at St. Barnabas.
Elena Falgione, 11, of Shaler, hit a high note in her young singing career, capturing the title of Kean Idol, while Kathryn Knapp, 12, of Pine Township, walked away with the title for the dance competition. Click here for more about Elena and Kathryn.
Sarah Marince of Moon Township, was first-runner up in the singing competition and Rachel Miller of Oakdale, was second. Miller also received the Greg Maggio Award, named in honor of the late Greg Maggio, an avid supporter of St. Barnabas Charities. Natalie Schaefer of Gibsonia and Samantha Lerda of Wexford were the other top five finalists.
In addition to a trophy, the grand prize in the singing competition included six hours of studio time with Audible Images Recording Studios. Bob Logue, former KDKA radio personality, served as emcee of the event.
Lindsay McGivern of Hampton was awarded first runner-up in the dance competition and Christopher Marince of Moon Township was second runner-up. The other top six finalists were Sodda Pop Kid of Arnold, Christine Marty of Sarver, and Alex Toy of Freeport.
Grand prizes in the dance competition included a portrait session with noted photographer David Guthrie.
2006 Kean Idol Winners
Northern Connection magazine is proud to be be the signature sponsor for the Kean Idol. We congratulate all the winners and contestants on a job well done!
Kathryn Knapp
Dancing to the tune “Name in Lights” from the play “Boy from Oz,” Kathryn Knapp, 12, of Pine Township, stepped into first place as the winner of the Kean Idol dance competition, March 12, at the St. Barnabas Health System’s Kean Theatre in Gibsonia.
Competing
against all ages, including adults, Kathryn, a 6th grader at Pine Richland Middle
School, attributed her success to a good stage presence and “just having
fun.” “Everyone was good dancers,” Kathryn said. “I
just showed good emotions on my face and had a lot of fun knowing I was helping
out a good cause.”
Proceeds from the competition benefit the St. Barnabas Free Care Fund which provides free health care to many patients at the St. Barnabas Health System.
With the goal of becoming a professional dancer on Broadway, Kathryn has been taking dance lessons since she was 3-years old at the Laura Lynn School of Dance in Richland. Kathryn credits instructor Laura Cheryba, who choreographed her dance, for her successful first place performance.
The talented young dancer enjoys all types of dance, but favors jazz. To achieve success, a dancer must have “drive and focus,” said Kathryn, who practices two to four hours three times a week.
Lisa and Ron Knapp were confident that their daughter would perform well in the dance competition. “The other dancers were very good, but Kathryn just loves it and has a great stage presence,” Lisa said.
Wanting to follow in the footsteps of her older sister, Christina, 15, now an avid soccer player, Kathryn displayed a natural talent for dance at a young age. “She stood up above the crowd a little and starting competing and winning,” Lisa said.
The same day that she captured the title of Kean Idol, Kathryn won the gold medal dancing to “Name in Lights” at the Dance Educators of America competition. She also won “most contagious smile,” proving her point that being a successful dancer not only requires talent, focus and dedication, but a sense of having fun while doing it. s
Elena Falgione
Although she’s only 11-years old, Elena Falgione of Shaler is driven to succeed and is already on the road to achieving her dream of becoming a contestant on American Idol when she’s 16.
Competing
against 27-semi finalists of all ages, Elena, a fifth grader at Shaler Area Middle
School, was named the vocal winner of the Kean Idol talent contest held March
25 at St. Barnabas Health System’s Kean Theatre in Gibsonia.
“I think I could make it to the top 12 of American Idol,” said Elena, whose favorite current Idol contestants are Paris and Taylor.
Elena, a fan of show tunes from Broadway musicals, sang “Think of Me” from the Phantom of the Opera to win the title of Kean Idol. “I felt it was a really beautiful song,” Elena said.
Although she began taking singing lessons when she was 8-years old, the talented singer was still “surprised” that she won. “It was really cool to win the contest,” Elena said.
Elena’s parents, Lisa and Rick Falgione, knew their daughter could carry a tune from the time she was four-years old. “She was just a little actress and would constantly sing all over the house,” Lisa said. “The family has always supported her singing and everyone thought it was really awesome that she won the Kean Idol contest.”
Karen Cordaro, owner and director of the Act One Theater School in Shaler, has been instrumental in fine tuning Elena’s musical talent, Lisa said.
Under Cordaro’s direction, Elena has appeared in several Act One productions, including the role of Tinkerbelle in the presentation of “Peter Pan.” She was one of the children in the chorus in the Broadway production at Heinz Hall of “Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, and was one of the narrators for Act One’s presentation of the play in April.
Winning the Kean Idol title has opened the door for Elena to pursue her dream of performing in Broadway musicals and perhaps becoming an American Idol. Whether the talented pre-teen makes it to the stage of American Idol and past the caustic scrutiny of Simon Cowell, remains to be seen.
April 2005 Northern Connection
Gibsonia Teen Takes
Home the Kean Idol!
Talent contest raises $7,197 for St. Banabas Free Care Fund
Submitted by St. Barnabas Charitable Foundation
Where else can you hear 60 of the area’s top vocalists gather together to belt out their best performances in a fundraising event to raise money for poor and needy nursing home patients? The Kean Theatre of course! The state-of the-art Kean Theatre at St. Barnabas was recently the host of the "Kean Idol" amateur singing competition. Proceeds benefited the St. Barnabas Charitable Foundation’s Free Care Fund, which in 2004 alone provided more than $5.76 million to St. Barnabas' poor and low income patients.
Maddie
Arnold (photo left), a 13-year-old from Gibsonia, was named the winner of the “Kean
Idol” amateur talent contest, March 12, at the Kean Theatre. She was among
60 contestants and 16 semi-finalists competing in the talent show. Arnold sang
an original song, “Step Off This Train” to win the top honors. She
was accompanied by her father, Michael Arnold, on guitar and by friend Emily
Benko on piano.
In addition to an amazing collection of singers, the contest, which spanned four weeks, also included local celebrities such as Kimberley Easton, WPXI reporter, Bob Logue, radio talk show host, Greg Maggio, owner of North Park Clubhouse and chairman of the Pennies for Patients campaign; and Dave Malarkey of WISR radio in Butler, served as emcees. Judges represented local talent and voice agencies, recording studios and performers. “We are happy to announce that thanks to the support of the contestants, their families, friends and everyone who volunteered the Kean Idol was a success raising $7,197 for the Free Care Fund,” said Debbie Panei, assistant director of development with St. Barnabas Charitable Foundation. “It was a fun way to raise much needed funding for our patients.”
The judges selected the top five finalists from each of the three preliminary rounds and the audience voted on the winner for each round. The competition included a diverse mix of singers each with their own style. The top five finalists selected by the judges were Sarah Wadding, 15, of Dayton, Pa.; Joseph Barron, 19, of Gibsonia, a freshman at Oberlin Conservatory; Jessica Ranalli, 25, of Cranberry Twp.; Rachel Piciacchio, 10, of Wexford; and Arnold, who was also named the winner of round two.
The audience members voted among the five finalists choosing Arnold as the Kean Idol, Ranalli as first runner-up and Barron as second runner-up.
Marion
Piotrowski, publisher of Northern Connection magazine and sponsor of
the Kean Idol, presented the prizes, which included the grand prize of six hours
of studio time with Audible Images, an audition to sing the national anthem at
the June 12th Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game, a portrait session with photographer
Rick Armstrong and a feature story in Northern Connection magazine.
In addition to a trophy, the first and second-runners up received professional
portrait sessions, a karaoke machine and tickets to the Pittsburgh Symphony.
Photo, left to right: Piotrowski, Jessica Ranalli, Maddie Arnold and Joseph Barron.
Additional semi-finalists competing in the championship round were Heather Dymkoski, 16, of Sarver; Natalie Gornick, 16, of Gibsonia; Brandi Painter, 14, of Shaler Township; Shelly Brunotts, 36, of Mars; Courtney Shaffer, 8, of Valencia; Ed Pokusa, 48, of New Kensington; Greta Shepardson, 15, of McMurray; Amanda Livingston, 21, of Cranberry Township; Larry Coles, 55, of McKeesport; Madeleine O’Neil, 10, of Wexford; and Cassandra Vandebord, 14, of Conway, Pa.
For information on the Kean Theatre and upcoming events, call the box office at (724) 444-KEAN (5326) or visit www.keantheatre.com. Multiple ticket and group discounts available.
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