Featured Image: David Macbeth, Charter Arts’ Artistic Director of Vocal Music, leads the combined choirs in the 2017 Winter Concert. – Photo by Kristen Wieder
BETHLEHEM, PA —The award-winning music department of the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts (Charter Arts), located at 321 East 3rd Street in Bethlehem, will hold its fifteenth-annual Spring Concert Series with its Spring Choral Concert on May 7 & 8, its Spring Instrumental Concert taking on Friday, May 11, and its Big Band Concert on May 15. Concerts begin at 7pm.
The choral concert will feature all of the school’s choirs, directed by David Macbeth, including the acclaimed Charter Arts Touring Choir. More than 140 students comprise these choirs. A feature of this year’s concert will include a performance of “MASS” by Swedish composer, Steve Dobrogosz.
The instrumental concert will feature the Charter Arts Wind Ensemble , Percussion Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble and Orchestra. The Wind Ensemble and Percussion Ensembles are led by Matthew Wells, the Guitar Ensemble is led by John Arnold, and the Orchestra is led by Kimberly Seifert. Featured works will include: Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns, El Camino Real by Alfred Reed and Labyrinth by Kit Watkins arr. Mike Myers.
The Charter Arts Big Band, led by Mike Lorenz, earned an ‘excellent’ rating at this year’s SteelStacks High School Jazz Showcase, as well as earning awards for best jazz vocal soloist and best rhythm section soloist.
Tickets are $13 adult, $11 senior/student, and can be purchased online at www.CharterArts.org or at the door if not sold out.
ABOUT THE LEHIGH VALLEY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS (CHARTER ARTS) MUSIC DEPARTMENT:
The Charter Arts Music Department continues its legacy of excellence as it accrues many accolades and awards. The Charter Arts Music Department was the recipient of the Board of Directors Award at the 2016 Lehigh Valley Music Awards, and the Charter Arts Jazz Band won best school youth band at the awards this year. The department’s work also led Charter Arts to be named as one of only 119 schools in the nation to qualify as a 2016 Grammy Signature School Semi-Finalist.
The Charter Arts Touring Choir earned a gold medal at the 2012 World Choir Games, which was the highest award for a high school choir at the prestigious international event. The choir will perform at Carnegie Hall with John Rutter this May and has performed to sold-out crowds in the region. In addition, the choir has graced the stage alongside such acts as the pop group, Paramore, the operatic quartet, The Tenors, and the legendary rock group, Foreigner.
In addition, the school’s various instrumental ensembles and individual performers earn many awards at competitions such as the PMEA choral, orchestra and band competitions; and are often invited to perform with many great artists…such as Julliard Jazz and Kamasi Washington.
Students who major in instrumental or vocal music at Charter Arts, experience a rigorous and comprehensive curriculum, which includes a wide range of classical and jazz studies. The course catalog consists of more than sixty courses that focus on ensemble work, improvisation and individual technique. Students are required to complete courses in music history, four years of music theory, four years of technique classes and a variety of music electives that include: conducting, composition and arranging, or vocal techniques in such genres as opera, German Lied or Italian Song, to name a few.
ABOUT THE LEHIGH VALLEY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS
The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts (Charter Arts), opened in 2003, is an audition-based, tuition-free, public charter school that provides a comprehensive curriculum for high school students, grades 9-12, who have a passion for the arts. Students major in one of seven artistic areas: dance, theater, vocal music, instrumental music, literary arts, figure skating or visual art.
Charter Arts’ rigorous curriculum fosters both academic and artistic excellence for its students. The school’s impressive PA School Performance Profile (SPP) Academic Score, AP and Keystone exam statistics, student SAT scores, prestigious artistic accolades, and graduation rate are a testament to the outstanding education Charter Arts provides.
Charter Arts moved into its brand-new facility in the heart of South Bethlehem’s arts and cultural district in the fall of 2015. The school is located at 321 East 3rd Street, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
For more information about Charter Arts, visit: www.CharterArts.org or call 610-868-2971.
