Bel Canto Children’s Chorus

http://www.belcantochildren.com/

The chorus has travelled all over the United States, and has even sang at the Vatican! Membership in the Bel Canto Children’s Chorus is open to children from 7 to 15, by audition. This group is directed by Joy Hirokawa, also the founder, who is also the music education professor at Moravian College.

Williams Center for the Arts

http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~artscntr/williams/

The Williams Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Lafayette College in Easton. This is where the college holds its concerts and theater productions, houses the college’s art galleries, and it is the home of the Lafayette College Arts Society.

PA Sinfonia Orchestra

http://www.pasinfonia.org/

The PA Sinfonia Orchestra is a high-caliber group, having been acclaimed as “technically the best in the Lehigh Valley.” The ensemble has already had several concerts in Allentown Symphony Hall this year, and their next will be in January at Wesley Church in Bethlehem. It will be an all-Baroque concert.

Lehigh Valley Drum Circle

http://www.lvdrumcircle.com/

Moe Jerant teaches introduction to drumming classes on authentic African drums, and hosts community drum circles in Dave Phillip’s Music store in Allentown. Drum circles teach each individuals the art of teamwork, appreciation for the music of different cultures, a sense of community, and how each person can find their own voice. She also teaches the unique “Stressbuster Drum Circle,” which teaches how to relax through meditative drumming techniques. See the website for testimonials- she’s had many happy customers!

Muhlenberg College Music Department

http://www.muhlenberg.edu/depts/music/

Muhlenberg College hosts a couple dozen concerts every semester, including faculty and student recitals. The college has several vocal ensembles, a wind ensemble, orchestra, jazz ensembles, and the Collegium Musicum historic music ensemble.

Young People’s Philharmonic

http://www.ypp-jsp.org/

The Young People’s Philharmonic and the Junior String Philharmonic has been giving young musicians the opportunity to participate in a high quality music ensemble for over 30 years. The groups are open by auditions to middle school and high school aged musicians.

SATORI

http://www.satori-chambermusic.org/

SATORI is made up of a dozen musicians who come together in various smaller combinations to perform chamber music throughout the valley. SATORI’s mission is to spread the appreciation of chamber music. SATORI can be frequently seen performing at Moravian College.

SATORI is a favorite of mine for several reasons. Firstly, the group membership includes several Moravian College artists-in-residence, and Adriana Linares , an accomplished violist whom I was honored to take lessons from for a few years. Secondly, SATORI hosts The Gift of Music Program which collects instruments and distributes them to needy music students. A very worthy endeavor!  SATORI also hosts the BRAVO! music outreach program, to bring chamber music into local schools, as well as an annual student chamber music competition.

Insomniak Theater Comapy

http://www.insomniaktheatre.com/

The Insomniak Theater Company was founded in 2005 by two students, a theater major and a composition major. The pair hopes to share their love of all things theater with those of all ages.

The company’s holiday productions this year are Caroling Through the Ages: A Christmas Revue, and Roger Von Bing’s Christmas Cabaret: An Electrifying Night of Holiday Celebration.

Moravian College Theater Company

http://home.moravian.edu/public/eng/theatre/index.htm

Over the past four years, the Moravian College Theater Company has grown from a ragtag ensemble led and directed by students that only produced 2 plays a year, to something much more professional, with the addition of theater professor Christopher Shorr. This school year, the troupe has already performed the Christopher Durang’s ironic comedy Betty’s Summer Vacation and the wizard rock opera The Fountain of Fair Fortune. During the second semester, the group will perform Shorr’s Clytemnestra’s Daughters with the Touchstone Theatre, The Clean House, and the famous absurdist work, Waiting for Godot.

All works except those done with the Touchstone Theatre are performed in the college’s intimate Arena Theatre, in the lower level of the Haupert Union Building. Tickets are very affordable.

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival has been held every summer by DeSales University since 1992. The company presents plays by Shakespeare and other popular playwrights as well, in this celebration of the theatre. Slated for 2010 are: Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and The Merry Wives of Windsor, A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum, Robin Hood, The Playboy of the Western World, and more.