Photo Credit: Christmas City Studio

BETHLEHEM, PA —– The award-winning music department of the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts (Charter Arts) will hold its annual Winter Concert Series on December 9-10 & December 13, 2019.  This popular concert series impresses audiences each year with stunning performances featuring more than 150 talented young vocalists and musicians.   

The 2019 Winter Choral Festival, taking place on December 9 & 10 at 7 PM, will feature select choruses from Handel’s ‘Messiah’.  The Charter Arts Treble Choir, Touring Choir, and vocal major choirs will combine to sing songs from around the world centered around the theme of the human heartbeat. 

Performances at the 2019 Winter Instrumental Concert, taking place on December 13 at 7 PM, will include Gustav Holst’s, “Second Suite in F,” performed by the Charter Arts Wind Ensemble, and Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty Waltz,” by the Orchestra. The audience can also expect an Eric Rath arrangement of, “Carol of the Bells,” by the Percussion Ensemble and some holiday favorites performed by the Charter Arts Guitar Ensemble!

All concerts will take place in the beautiful Charter Arts Theatre, located on the school’s campus at 321 East 3rd Street, Bethlehem. Tickets for the concerts are $5-$15. Tickets can be purchased online in advance at www.CharterArts.org or at the box office.

ABOUT THE CHARTER ARTS MUSIC DEPARTMENT:

Instrumental Music and Vocal Music are two distinct individual departments at Charter Arts. However, some of the courses are required of both majors while others are department-specific. Instrumental students are provided large ensemble experience through Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Charter Arts Big Band and Percussion Ensemble. Small ensembles such as Advanced Jazz Combo, Pop/Jazz Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble, Chamber Ensemble, and String Ensemble also boast a full concert schedule. Through community partnerships, students also perform at various venues across the Lehigh Valley.

In the Charter Arts Vocal Music program, students learn to read music at an advanced level, as well as understand the historical setting of the pieces in their musical repertoire. The faculty helps them listen analytically, with skills that develop both their critical sense of music and thought. Working with each other, students learn teamwork and become creative and cooperative members of musical ensembles.

Beyond ensembles, the music curriculum is vast and challenging. Students have four years of music theory and four years in a technique class where the vocalists work with a vocal specialist and the instrumentalists work with a specialist in their instrument family. Along with a collection of music electives, these classes prepare students for careers as professional musicians, music majors in college or university, and/or lifelong lovers and learners of music.   

The Charter Arts Music Department is led by Matthew Wells, Director and Neil Chaban, Assistant Director.

 

ABOUT THE LEHIGH VALLEY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS (Charter Arts)

Charter Arts 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, literary arts, instrumental music, theatre, vocal music, production arts, or visual arts.

Charter Arts’ rigorous curriculum fosters both academic and artistic excellence for its students. The school’s impressive Future Ready PA Index ranking, Advanced Placement (AP) exam statistics, Keystone exam statistics, SAT scores, prestigious artistic accolades, and graduation rate are a testament to the outstanding education Charter Arts provides.

Charter Arts is proud to celebrate its seventeenth year as one of the most respected high schools for the arts in the nation.  Charter Arts was one of only 349 schools in the nation to be named a 2018 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education. In addition, Charter Arts earned a Silver Award for its impressive ranking on U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best High Schools for the Arts in America list.

Charter Arts is located at 321 East 3rd Street, Bethlehem PA 18015.

For more information about Charter Arts, visit:  www.CharterArts.org or call 610-868-2971.

 

 

Information & Image Provided By:
Ann Gillette
Manager of Public Relations and Media
Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts
321 East 3rd Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015
www.CharterArts.org

 

 

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