I am moved by overwhelming collective response within The Art Institute of Pittsburgh college community to extend our disdain for Scott Mervis' article announcing the appearance of the Black Keys at the Three Rivers Arts Festival (June 4).

Our outrage is not with the opinion of the band's drummer, for every institution of higher education deals with the negative commentary from a dissatisfied dropout from time to time. More specifically, our concerns are directed squarely at Mervis, for his surprising lack of professional decency.

Still greater is our sense of wonder about how the drummer's quote speaks in any meaningful way to telling Mervis' story about how the Black Keys formed or drawing the relationship between its members and the City of Pittsburgh.

Patrick Carney's quote about his academic performance and his insult to one of the city's most successful, historic and largest academic institutions have no relevance to the Arts Festival or the city, and therefore, it can only be concluded that Mervis lacked the judgment to disregard the statement.

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh is a thriving institution closing in on a century of success with an alumni network of tens of thousands of successful commercial artists, photographers, illustrators, filmmakers, animators and designers of all disciplines.

Despite its delivery, Patrick Carney's opinion concerns us. The Art Institute of Pittsburgh takes pride in a continuous cycle of improvement and our commitment to graduate success has been the core of our mission since 1921.

Mervis' indiscretion in choosing to lead his story with such an unsavory, irrelevant remark to a college that hosts over 12,000 students, 340 employees and 900 year-round residents of Downtown Pittsburgh? That's another matter. One that raises a simple question about his motivation.

George L. Pry
President, Art Institute of Pittsburgh

Regarding the review of our Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concert of June 4 featuring Frank Peter Zimmermann performing the Beethoven violin concerto, I have heard this concerto performed many times in the past 50 years, beginning with Jascha Heifetz and the New York Philharmonic and continuing on since then with most of the great violinists and orchestras. I found that the performance on June 5 at Heinz Hall with Zimmermann and Honeck was at the very top of my list of great performances.

Not only did the serene passages of the second movement in particular and also of the outer movements present a Beethoven at peace with himself but also a world at peace with itself. The performance was simply a masterpiece, technically and spiritually.

Nevertheless, your reviewer, Andrew Druckenbrod, managed to trivialize this performance by such descriptions as "traipsing through the work in more-or-less trivial fashion" or "But then he would suddenly launch into bouts of wild sawing with the bow."

I find that Druckenbrod most often tends to kvetch rather than teach the reader.

Fortunately, when the performance ended, the audience came to its feet in an instant and provided violinist and orchestra with one of the finest standing ovations that I have seen and heard at the PSO in 39 years.

Eugene Engels
Squirrel Hill

This past weekend, we started Friday evening Downtown with dinner at Tonic. Our group shared appetizers and had some drinks to celebrate my sister's birthday. Tonic has a great atmosphere and an eclectic menu; it's typically not difficult to get a table there, and so it has become a go-to sort of spot for us.

Afterward, we headed to Point State Park to catch the Black Keys, who we were quite fortunate to have playing a free show to kick off our arts festival. The crowd was varied and filled with young families, which to me is a sign of a positive shift toward urban living in Pittsburgh. I hope to be just like them someday, children in tow, out enjoying our city.

When the show ended, we crossed the Smithfield Street Bridge to Saddle Ridge. Not being avid line dancers, but enjoying it nonetheless, we watched the more proficient and followed their lead. From the wallflowers to the seasoned veterans, it was a great and fun mix of people. I intend to go back, and soon. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh is not ripe with taxicabs, so we ended the night piling into our friend DD's car.

The following morning, my sister and I wandered down Butler Street to Coca Cafe. It was a beautiful morning, and breakfast was delicious, as always, at the quaint, welcoming cafe. The day was already another great Pittsburgh day in the making.

Katie Jones
Lawrenceville