YPC Erie to Host Honor Chorus Festival for Students, Teachers
Daylong workshop will conclude with public concert
The Young People’s Chorus of Erie will host its Honor Chorus Festival on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. This one-day choir workshop is open to all students, ages 7-18, and teachers in the region. Students are welcome to register without a teacher.
Participating students will perform the music that they have rehearsed throughout the day at a concert Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. in the McGarvey Commons, located in the college’s Reed Union Building. The concert is open to the public; admission is $5 per person.
Students will rehearse and perform as a massed choir and in five choral divisions: the Elementary Chorus for children ages 7-9, the Intermediate Chorus for children ages 10-12, the Treble Chorus for both girls and boys with unchanged voices between the ages of 13 and 18, the Young Men’s Chorus for boys ages 13-18 whose voices have changed, and Chorale, which combines members of the Treble and Young Men’s choruses to form YPC Erie’s most advanced ensemble.
Dr. D. Jason Bishop, director of choral activities at Penn State Behrend and founder and artistic director of YPC Erie, along with Melissa Heitzenrater-Beichner and Brent Weber, conductors for YPC Erie, will serve as conductors for the festival. Bishop and Dr. Allen Howell, associate professor of music education at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, will facilitate teacher workshops.
In addition, the Hamilton-Gibson Children and Youth Choirs, accompanied by Thomas Putnam, conductor, will deliver a guest performance at the concert. They are on tour from Wellsboro, Pa.
For more information or to register for the Honor Chorus Festival, call 814-898-6789 or visit the YPC Erie Web site at ypcerie.org. The registration deadline is Oct. 9; registration fees are $25 for students and $15 for teachers, and include lunch and dinner on-site. Those teachers who register a minimum of eight students will have their $15 registration fee waived.
YPC Erie is an outreach initiative of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Penn State Behrend. Inspired by the philosophy and artistic vision of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, YPC Erie offers a comprehensive choral music experience to children of diverse backgrounds and abilities.