Full Circle: Networking on the Stage

There’s a certain kind of energy that lingers after a concert. It's the kind that hums with everything that just happened on stage. I felt that energy recently, while photographing the Pittsburgh Concert Society’s Major Winners Concert.

I got the job through a bit of good fortune. A friend and colleague who recently joined the PCS board thought I might be the right person to help strengthen the organization’s social media presence and document the event. That connection opened the door to an afternoon that reminded me why I do this work at all.

My task was part storytelling, part strategy: build a series of posts to help PCS reach more people online and then capture the concert, edit the images, and tell the story. But behind all the planning and metrics, what stood out to me was the human side of it—the way art pulls people together in real time.

One of the featured performers, flutist Dr. Iva Ugrčić (who is a spectacular flutist, by the way), had a very special motivation for that concert—her husband and three-year-old daughter were in the audience, and moreover, it was her daughter’s first time attending one of her mom's performances. I caught moments of them in the crowd—her husband leaning forward, her daughter completely still, wide-eyed, taking it all in. It reminded me that “networking” isn’t just professional; it’s deeply personal. It’s about being present when someone else’s work connects with you.

After the concert, I learned that Iva’s husband is actually the Director of Digital Marketing for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. He loved the photos I took that day enough to invite me to be a contributing photographer for their organization, as well. One connection had led to another, and just like that, the story continues...

That’s the power of what this work can do. It creates connection and harmony—between performers and audiences, organizations and artists, friends and strangers. The Pittsburgh Concert Society had hired me to document and amplify their work, but what I witnessed was something larger: a community finding new ways to meet, create, and grow.

Sometimes the real music begins after the applause.

See the full gallery → stevegrovesphoto.com/pcs2025