Sonic Pavilion: Palimpsest
Palimpsest by Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh is an electroacoustic portrait of the steel-working communities that forged America’s industrial might. By recording, processing, and recontextualizing sounds from landmark steel bridges and retired steel mill furnaces in Pittsburgh, the work invites listeners to contemplate the labor, history, and resilience that built the nation. This work connects the Rust Belt’s specific industrial legacy to the broader national experience, framing the Pritzker Pavilion not merely as a concert venue but as a resonance chamber for the beating heart of America. Palimpsest premieres at Sonic Pavilion Festival September 12-14, 2026.
For a deeper dive into this project, here’s a peek into some of the materials Annie found and consulted throughout her research process:
PUBLICATIONS
Arthur G. Burgoyne, The Homestead Strike of 1892 (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1979)
Paul Kahan, The Homestead Strike: Labor, Violence, and American Industry (Routledge, 2014)
Philip S. Foner, American labor songs of the nineteenth century (University of Illinois Press 1975)
Note from Annie: apparently this is where Pete Seeger first came across the song Homestead Strike
MUSIC
Note from Annie: The vinyl sleeves contain some useful info about the songs and how they came to be. View those here.
VIDEO
Abandoned America: https://www.abandonedamerica.us/carrie-furnaces
Short WETA PBS documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEMSx_97Be4
Next Pittsburgh introduction of Carrie Furnace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dja_IIgnzEw
ASSORTED OTHER SOURCES
Info on the area https://www.nps.gov/places/rivers-of-steel-national-heritage-area.htm
Rivers of Steel website https://riversofsteel.com/about/
Smithfield Bridge in Pittsburgh https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/smithfield-street-bridge and https://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/Smithfield.html