EASTON YOUTH CHORUS RENAMED "LEHIGH VALLEY YOUTH CHORUS" THROUGH NEW RESIDENCY PARTNERSHIP AT NORTHAMPTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE

The Easton Youth Chorus and Northampton Community College will be joining forces starting this fall.

Through a new “residency partnership” with Northampton Community College (NCC), the chorus – which will be rebranded the “Lehigh Valley Youth Chorus”, or LVYC – will be “in residence” at NCC, holding its weekly rehearsals and major concerts at NCC’s Bethlehem Campus, 3835 Green Pond Road. The joint venture promises to be beneficial to both parties. It will not only enlarge the chorus’ footprint to include the entire Lehigh Valley, but will also expand NCC’s successful Horizons for Youth (HFY) program by adding music to the curriculum. The chorus will also benefit from the college’s resources and facilities – most notably the use of Kopecek Hall’s Lipkin Theater.

“We’re genuinely excited to enter into this residency partnership with NCC,” said Kelley R. Atwood, Founder and Artistic Director of the newly re-christened Lehigh Valley Youth Chorus. “The college really appreciates both the high standards and quality of our program and recognizes the powerful impact that music can have in the development of young people. I look forward to bringing this talented ensemble to the next level with NCC and sharing wonderful music with the entire Lehigh Valley.”

“Music education is an area that HFY has always been interested in growing," said Dr. Gail Mrowinski, Associate Dean of Community Education at Northampton Community College. “The Lehigh Valley Youth Chorus will give families the chance to experience quality music-making right here at NCC. The chorus will also introduce NCC’s first year-round music program for students in 3rd through 9th grades. We think this is a wonderful opportunity which will enhance both organizations.”

By adding the Lehigh Valley Youth Chorus to their roster, NCC will be embracing not just an established local childrens’ choir with a proven record of success, but one led by a spirited director who has worked with children’s choruses at the national level. For over 20 years, Atwood has worked with voices of all ages in multicultural schools, churches and community environments with singers from around the globe. Working in these settings has instilled in her a passion for the development of young voices and a special appreciation for world music.

The Lehigh Valley Youth Chorus, a children’s chorus in residence at Northampton Community College for girls & boys with unchanged voices in 3rd through 9th grades, will be committed to music-making of the highest caliber and to exploring a diverse choral repertoire rooted in serious music (sacred and secular) and world music. Public performances will take place throughout the year. Annual winter and spring concerts will take place in NCC’s Lipkin Theater at the Bethlehem Campus, 3835 Green Pond Road. The ensemble will also “give back” to the Lehigh Valley through community and outreach events throughout each September-May concert season. Previous such performances (as the Easton Youth Chorus) have taken place at the PPL Center (for a capacity crowd of 8,000 people) and the Williams Center for the Performing Arts at Lafayette College.

Lehigh Valley Youth Chorus auditions will begin in May and continue through the beginning of September by appointment. No advance preparation is necessary to audition. E-mail youthinfo@northamption.edu or call 610-861-4120 for more information or to schedule an audition.