About Us
Our mission is to empower mothers and families experiencing birth trauma and loss in Pittsburgh through collaborative songwriting.
Our team of professional teaching artists work with families to write personal lullabies that speak to their hopes, fears and dreams of parenthood. We empower participants by encouraging them to make creative decisions in the songwriting process while listening deeply to their stories. Their lullabies can be songs to soothe their newborn to sleep, adventure songs to sing as they get ready for the day, a song of remembrance for their child, or anything in-between.
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In our programming, we emphasize safety, belonging and community. Our songwriting sessions are easily adapted to fit the group we’re working with, and we hold multiple “Celebration Concerts” throughout the year. These events are an opportunity for participants to share their songs with each other, their friends, and their families.
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Our model involves three points of focus:
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Trauma-Informed Care for women who have experienced birth trauma
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Lullabies for Loss, working with families who have lost a child
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Family and Youth Music Education
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Lullaby Project Pittsburgh is one of many regional offshoots of the larger Lullaby Project network. We launched our project at Carnegie Mellon University in September of 2022 and have since become fiscally sponsored by New Sun Rising. We are part of the larger Lullaby Project network, sponsored by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.
Our Story
2012
Lullaby Project originated in New York City through Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.
2020
Lullaby Project Pittsburgh co-founder Claire Gunsbury participated in Colorado Lullaby Project’s online songwriting sessions through the University of Colorado Boulder.
2022
August
The Pittsburgh chapter of Lullaby Project was created as a course through the College of Music. It was co-created and taught by Dr. Valeria J. Martinez and Monique Mead.
November
Now known as Lullaby Project Pittsburgh, the student musicians at CMU held their first in-person songwriting session and Celebration Concert in Shadyside.
2023
January - May
Lullaby Project Pittsburgh continued as a course at CMU, and hosted two more full sessions in partnership with Dr. Tracey Vogel at AHN.
June - October
Now led by Claire Gunsbury and Sean Andres, Lullaby Project Pittsburgh became a community project. We developed a partnership with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and worked with the Pittsburgh Palliative Care Coalition and University of Pittsburgh for the Visualizing Loss project.
2024
March
Lullaby Project Pittsburgh teaching artists returned to CMU to instruct and mentor current students.
September
Became fiscally sponsored by the Pittsburgh-based organization New Sun Rising.
November
Established partnerships with six major arts organizations in Pittsburgh and have created nearly forty songs and counting!
