Pittsburgh is lucky indeed to have a vibrant chamber orchestra composed of Pittsburgh Symphony players and led by the talented Andres Cardenes. What a shame then that our vibrant Downtown Cultural District doesn't include a hall for smaller ensembles. Instead this wonderful group has to travel to Oakland and Upper St. Clair for performances. While it's good to see their superb music-making spread around, it is distressing to know that is because no appropriate venue exists Downtown.

It's not only true for the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Players but also for Chatham Baroque, Pittsburgh Camerata and a number of other smaller-sized performance groups that contribute much to Pittsburgh's extraordinary arts tradition and reputation.

Let's hope this lack of a welcome for smaller, more intimate music ensembles in our Cultural District is soon remedied.

Sam Newbury
President, Chatham Baroque

Help! I'm an avid movie-goer and I go to the movies every weekend. When is Hollywood going to make good adult dramas?

When summer arrives we get all the action, adventure, kid movies and teen thrillers. When fall arrives we get all the Oscar hopefuls but rarely are there any really worth cheering about.

Hollywood's mentality is older people do not attend movies. I beg to differ. Taking a line from the film "Field of Dreams," "If you build it they will come." If Hollywood makes a great drama, adults will indeed be there.

I would love to see a good murder mystery or courtroom drama but Hollywood seems to cater to the CGI crowd.

James Montgomery
Oakland

I enjoyed Alan Petrucelli's "A Fresh Look: Borrowing some enjoyment at Carnegie Library" (Nov. 10). Books have always been my map to the world and mankind that inhabits that world. Reading and the ability to comprehend is the key to the universe.

With the lack of reading skills in many of our schools across the nation, how about letting K through 12 decide what books to read instead of the teachers making the choices? After all, isn't it reading and comprehension skills that are important and not a lesson plan? Perhaps if young people enjoyed what they were reading, they too would "come to the watering hole." And maybe teachers and parents could learn something from them? Just a thought.

Darl Lyn McMahon
Mt. Lebanon

I know Pittsburgh is a city of music lovers, and I sure hope you can help so many of us out.

I would like to take this chance to ask all the people of Pittsburgh to please contact Sirius Radio, as they made it known that as of Nov. 5 TJ Lubinsky will no longer have his fantastic doo-wop show on Sirius radio and what a loss it is to all of us over the country.

The man brought to us baby boomers and even young kids the best music ever, the music that started it all, and he even produced the shows for PBS. That should in itself say something about how great the man is.

He has a love, a passion for the music and for his audience. It comes over the airwaves very clear each and every week, and I am asking you all to call or e-mail Sirius Radio and tell them we want our TJ back on the airwaves. He was our Wednesday nights for three hours of just laying back and reliving all the great music of the day.

Please Pittsburgh, contact Sirius at 1-888-539-7474 and let them know that they made the biggest mistake by letting TJ go and that you want him back on. The sooner the better.

Katy Bleil
Hertford, N.C.