This weekend, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will perform for the pope in Vatican City, the first American orchestra to do so. But the honor of being part of such an event is only part of what makes this trip so important to the PSO, says Andrew Druckenbrod. “It is crucial for the future of this organization that it is able to put itself on the big map as it has with this Vatican affair, even if it means the slight subordination of the music to the ‘event.'”