WRITTEN BY
KATIE WAGNER
iStock 30 Mt. Lebanon Magazine | SEPTEMBER 2022
MIKE DRAZDZINSKI
When Ketlen and Scott Solak moved into their home in
the Twin Hills neighborhood last summer, they received
a knock at their door. They were delighted to find an
entire family—mom, dad, and two little girls—who had
come to introduce themselves to their new neighbors,
bearing a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies.

This was after another neighbor brought a tart from La
Gourmandine, and another brought wine and a box of
macarons, and countless others went out of their way to
say hello to the Solaks while they were walking their dog,
Cinder, around the neighborhood.

“I would like to say that hospitality is close to God’s
heart, and I have found our neighbors to be very
hospitable,” said Dr. Ketlen Solak, Bishop of the Episcopal
Diocese of Pittsburgh.

She and Scott visited St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
several times throughout the episcopal election process,
and they fell in love with Mt. Lebanon. So last year, after
Bishop Ketlen made history as the first woman and the
first person of color to head the diocese, and the Solaks
had just one day to find a home in Pittsburgh, they
started their search here—and felt fortunate that it was
so successful.

“God provided,” said Bishop Ketlen, who generally
chooses to forgo some of the grander forms of address
for an Episcopal bishop, such as “Your Grace” or “Your
Excellence,” in favor of the English form, which is “Bishop
[first name].”
Bishop Ketlen was born in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti,
to Roman Catholic parents, and moved to the United
States as a teenager to pursue her education. A talented
musician, she was accepted to The Catholic University of
America’s piano performance program, which is where
she met Scott.

“We met at our audition,” Scott said. “They put us in
the same room to warm up on the pianos … we’ve known
each other since we were 17.” Scott’s father was a Marine,
and he lived in Hawaii, California and Maryland before
coming to Washington, D.C., for college.

“We’ve been best friends since then,” added Bishop
Ketlen. Both graduated from The Catholic University of
America—Scott, with a degree in music composition. He
went on to pursue a career in music, as an accomplished
composer, pianist, church musician and music teacher.




Bishop Ketlen Solak is the
first woman and the first
person of color to be elect-
ed bishop of the Episcopal
Diocese Pittsburgh. At her
ordination and consecra-
tion ceremony, Ketlen,
a native of Haiti, wore
vestments adorned with
embroidered bougainvil-
lea flowers, representative
of her home country.

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