Vocal Music Department News
In December 2020, the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 10 announced the selections for its honors ensembles for 2020-2021 school year, and Charter Arts students, once again, shined! 2 students were announced for District Choir, 5 Students were announced for District Orchestra, and 8 students were announced for District Band. Due to Covid-19, PMEA will not hold the festivals this year, but the organization still recognized its selections for the various ensembles.
The Charter Arts Big Band earned an ‘excellent’ rating at the 2020 SteelStacks High School Jazz Band Showcase!
The Charter Arts Jazz Ensemble won Best Music Group Associated with a School at the 2020 Lehigh Valley Music Awards.
Two Charter Arts students were recipients of the 2020 Lehigh Valley Music Awards Youth Education Scholarship.
Charter Arts’ music faculty and students participated in the 2019 Music in the Parks n Hershey, PA. This national music event attracts ensembles from all over the United States and Canada. Charter Arts’ various ensembles shined as they earned many awards!
Touring Choir – Mixed Choir 1st place in Division
Touring Choir – Best Overall Choral Ensemble
Jordyn Kenzie and the Charter Arts Jazz Ensemble won 2019 Lehigh Valley Music Awards.
Two students are accepted to 2018 PMEA District 10 Honors Jazz Band.
The Charter Arts Big Band received a 2018 Lehigh Valley Music Award for “Best Local Student Ensemble.”
Charter Arts hosts PMEA Region V Festival
Charter Arts hosted the PMEA Region V Choral Festival this year. 210 choral students from 65 school districts from Eastern Pennsylvania traveled into Bethlehem for this event.
Student selected for PMEA State Choral Festival
Evan Nelson has been selected for the 2017 PMEA All-State Choral Festival. He will be one of 200 students from around the state participating. Forty-eight students from the PMEA Region V Choral Festival, which was hosted at Charter Arts in February, were selected to move onto the state festival.
Music Department Field Trip was filled with Fun & Inspiration
Charter Arts receives Lehigh Valley Music Award
In early March, Charter Arts Executive Director & CEO, Diane LaBelle, and Artistic Director of Vocal Music, David Macbeth attended the Lehigh Valley Music Awards to accept the prestigious Board of Directors Award. The award was given to Charter Arts, The School of Rock, and The Lesson Center for providing musical opportunities and education for young people. Students from each organization came together on stage for a special performance honoring David Bowie.
Touring Choir performed in Annual Bach Family Concert
The Charter Arts Touring Choir performed on February 28th as part of the Bach Family Concert at Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center.The Touring Choir has also been asked to perform with the legendary rock band, Foreigner, again this spring. The choir performed with the band last year at the Sands.
Singing with The Tenors
The Charter Arts Touring Choir had the privilege to perform on stage at the Sands in November with the Canadian vocal quartet and international sensation, The Tenors. This performance adds to the choir’s eclectic list of performances with major acts at the Sands….the choir has performed in the past with the pop group Paramore, Video Games Live and the rock group, Foreigner.
(Above: The Charter Arts Touring Choir takes a pic with The Tenors backstage at the Sands Event Center.)
Charter Arts has been named as a GRAMMY Signature School Semifinalist for 2016
Go Charter Arts! The GRAMMY Foundation released the list of schools that have made the semifinals for 2016. Charter Arts is one of the schools in the running! Finalists will be named in March, and each finalist school will receive a grant.
READ MORE!
Touring Choir were first to perform in Peggie’s Bell
On Tuesday, the Charter Arts Touring Choir went to Lehigh University to perform in Peggie’s Bell, an acoustic space produced by the Lehigh University Department of Art, Architecture and Design. The structure is currently being built by Lehigh students under the direction of professors, Richard Kroeker and Anthony Viscardi.
The bell is activated by the human voice.
The experience of listening to the beautiful sound of the choir was blissful and emotional for everyone who witnessed it. A sudden gust of autumn leaves fell almost ceremoniously as the choir began to sing. The bell was named after Peggie Sisson, a dance teacher who had a love of dance and music.
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Singing with Tony Orlando
Today, four vocal students along with Mr. Brown performed with Tony Orlando as well as Tony Iannelli, of the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, for the chamber’s annual awards meeting held at the Sands Event Center. A highlight for the students was performing Orlando’s hit, “Knock Three Times” in front of the exuberant crowd of over 1,000 area business owners, community leaders and dignitaries.
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Mr. Macbeth, Director of Vocal Music, awarded choral conducting fellowship with Norfolk Summer Chamber Music Festival
Cars & Choir
Well the Charter Arts Touring Choir has certainly had a wide range of performances this year, including its March 18 performance at the Lehigh Valley Auto Show Preview Gala. You could have heard a pin drop in Stabler Arena as the choir began to sing and the large crowd of guests drew closer to watch the performance.
Rockin’ with Legends
The Charter Arts Touring Choir performed with legendary rock group, Foreigner, on February 20. Read More!
January 8, 2015
The Morning Call Acclaimed Charter High School for the Arts choir performs at Cathedral Church Photo Story: Charter Arts Touring Choir concert at Church of the Nativity January 8, 2015 The Morning Call Kristin Brooks goes from Bethlehem to singing background for Sam Smith December 31, 2014 The Morning Call Lehigh Valley Classical Music- What’s Coming in 2015