|
|
|
The Bel Canto Youth Chorus Welcomes the New Da Capo Conductor and The Bach Choir Announces New Director of Education & Community Engagement
|
|
BETHLEHEM, PA – The Bel Canto Youth Chorus is thrilled to announce that Erica Silver is joining the team as the Da Capo Treble Choir Conductor. A native of the Lehigh Valley, Erica brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to our youngest singers. With 16 years of teaching music in public schools across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Erica currently directs the 500+ student choral program at Springhouse Middle School. She holds a B.M. in Piano Pedagogy and Accompanying from Westminster Choir College and an M.A. in Music and Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Erica has also worked with numerous music and theater organizations, and we are excited to have her expertise enrich our program. Erica shares with excitement, "I am so excited to join the Bel Canto team and work with the organization's youngest singers. I am looking forward to sharing my enthusiasm for choral singing with our elementary-aged students and to work with Kelly Rocchi and Alaina Swartz to grow the Bel Canto Youth Chorus program."
We are equally excited to announce the appointment of Alaina Swartz as the new Director of Education and Community Engagement. Alaina is a dynamic educator, vocalist, and choral conductor dedicated to music education and outreach. Her extensive experience includes serving as a public-school music teacher in the Parkland School District from 2007 to 2024, where she oversaw exponential program growth and increased family and student engagement.
In her own words, Alaina Swartz shares, "I am honored and humbled to be appointed as the Director of Education and Community Engagement. The Bach Choir's 125-year legacy is built on its community and educational outreach, and I am so excited to continue working with the tremendous Bach Choir team - Christopher Jackson, Leela Breithaupt, the entire Bach Choir staff and Board of Directors, and all who support our mission in so many important ways." Alaina holds a B.M. in Music Education from Susquehanna University, Summa Cum Laude, and an M.M. from Ithaca College. She has performed with several Lehigh Valley choral ensembles and is passionate about fostering healthy vocal development and cultivating a love of music.
The Da Capo Treble Choir is accepting enrollment through the summer months! This introductory choir is for singers with unchanged voices in grades 3-6. Know a child who loves to sing? Visit bach.org/belcanto or email [email protected] for more information!
ABOUT THE BEL CANTO YOUTH CHORUS
The Bel Canto Youth Chorus of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem provides opportunities for excellence in choral education and performance. Comprising young musicians from the Lehigh Valley and neighboring counties, the chorus has developed a reputation for performing diversified choral repertoire at the highest standards. In 2023, Kelly Rocchi was appointed to Director of The Bel Canto Youth Chorus and oversaw a robust increase in enrollment and engagement. That same year, Alaina Swartz joined Bel Canto as the Conductor of the newly structured Youth Chorale.
Currently representing 13 school districts, Bel Canto works to enhance, strengthen, and collaborate with the music education and choral programs in the Lehigh Valley community. Bel Canto students have been selected by audition to participate in the PMEA District, Region, and State honors choirs. Collaboration between Bel Canto and the Bach Choir provides additional performance opportunities for students. Highlights include the CD recording of A Child’s Christmas in Bethlehem, Britten’s St. Nicholas, fully staged performances of Britten’s one-act opera Noyes Fludde, and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. The chorus has frequently collaborated with other artists, including the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Allentown Band, Bucks County Choral Society, Cordus Mundi Men’s Chorus, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, and Lehigh University Choral Union. Outreach has included Choral Village, Cantaré (a musical partnership with the Bethlehem Area School District), and professional development programs for educators.
The Bel Canto Youth Chorus was founded in 1993 in the Perkiomen Valley by Dr. Joy Hirokawa, who led the chorus for 30 years before passing the baton to Rocchi. Bel Canto has been consistently noted for its innovative, artistic programs. The choir has been invited to perform for numerous music conferences, including the Eastern Division ACDA, Eastern Division MENC, PMEA, AGO, and ACDA-PA conferences and has toured Central Europe, Italy, Ireland, Canada, England, Oregon, Brooklyn, Disney World, Ohio, and Hawaii. The chorus has been honored on multiple occasions as a winner of The American Prize in the Children’s Chorus category. Its widely acclaimed 2021 concert video, Stand Up: Singing the Underground Railroad, won 2nd place in the American Prize Virtual Performance 2023 Schools Division.
Bel Canto's evolving structure continues to serve the unique pedagogical needs of its singers, and three ensembles will be offered in the 2024–25 season: Da Capo Treble Choir, a training choir for singers in grades 3 through 6; the Youth Chorale, a select group of mixed voices for singers in grades 5 through 8; and the Concert Choir, a select group for SATB singers in grade 9 through their first year of collegiate study. Musicianship, leadership, and community are cornerstones of the ensembles. Through the performance of vigorous and diverse choral repertoire, including the works of J.S. Bach, a lifelong passion for the choral arts is inspired and cultivated. For more information: BACH.org/belcanto
ABOUT THE BACH CHOIR OF BETHLEHEM
THE OLDEST AMERICAN BACH CHOIR, The Bach Choir of Bethlehem gave the first complete American performances of Bach’s Mass in B Minor in 1900 and Christmas Oratorio in 1901. Since its founding in 1898, the now-famous Choir has been attracting thousands of visitors from across the United States and beyond to the annual Bethlehem Bach Festival in Pennsylvania. In 2022, Dr. Christopher Jackson became the seventh Artistic Director and Conductor of The Bach Choir of Bethlehem. The 90 dedicated volunteer singers of The Bach Choir, performing with the Bach Festival Orchestra and distinguished soloists, have received international acclaim. Programming includes 40 concerts and educational programs per year for an audience of more than 22,000. Venues have included the Salzburger Dom, Nikolaikirche in Potsdam, and the Thomaskirche, Bach’s church in Leipzig, as part of the 2024 European tour; Herkulessaal at Munich’s Royal Residence as part of the 1995 Germany tour; The Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall as part of The Choir’s Centennial Celebration in 1998–2000; the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall as part of an eight-concert tour of the United Kingdom in 2003; and Severance Hall, Cleveland, for the 75th anniversary of the Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival in 2007. In September 2011, The Bach Choir represented the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a 10th anniversary musical observance of 9/11 in New York City, giving concerts in Saint Paul’s Chapel and Trinity Church, Wall Street. In 2013, The Choir performed Mendelssohn’s Elijah at Strathmore in the Washington, D.C., area, and in 2014, the new opera Young Meister Bach for the 250th anniversary of the German Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The Choir has released 11 recordings on the Dorian and Analekta labels, including most recently Mendelssohn/Bach Matthäus-Passion (2024), Bach’s Cantata 21 and Handel’s Ode for Saint Cecilia’s Day (2018), A Child’s Christmas in Bethlehem (2013), and Saint John Passion (2012). The Choir has been featured on National Public Radio’s Performance Today and Prairie Home Companion, Deutsche Radio, the BBC World Service, CBS Sunday Morning, and the Emmy award-winning PBS documentary on The Choir, Make a Joyful Noise. It has been recognized for its outstanding educational outreach programs (Bach at Noon, Bach to School, and interdisciplinary Family Concerts) by annual awards from the National Endowment for the Arts (2011–2020). The J.S. Bach Foundation in Switzerland named The Bach Choir of Bethlehem as the first American recipient of its annual award to a single Bach organization, recognizing The Bach Choir’s outstanding work in Bach performance and education for young people (2012). Mr. Bach Comes to Call, a film based on the acclaimed Classical Kids CD, was co-produced by The Bach Choir of Bethlehem and is distributed internationally by the Children’s Group. The Bel Canto Youth Chorus is The Bach Choir’s youth choir educational program under the direction of Director Kelly Rocchi. Through Bel Canto and other educational programs, The Bach Choir is training the next generation of choral singers and cultivating a life-long passion for the choral arts. For more information visit The Bach Choir’s website – BACH.org
We are equally excited to announce the appointment of Alaina Swartz as the new Director of Education and Community Engagement. Alaina is a dynamic educator, vocalist, and choral conductor dedicated to music education and outreach. Her extensive experience includes serving as a public-school music teacher in the Parkland School District from 2007 to 2024, where she oversaw exponential program growth and increased family and student engagement.
In her own words, Alaina Swartz shares, "I am honored and humbled to be appointed as the Director of Education and Community Engagement. The Bach Choir's 125-year legacy is built on its community and educational outreach, and I am so excited to continue working with the tremendous Bach Choir team - Christopher Jackson, Leela Breithaupt, the entire Bach Choir staff and Board of Directors, and all who support our mission in so many important ways." Alaina holds a B.M. in Music Education from Susquehanna University, Summa Cum Laude, and an M.M. from Ithaca College. She has performed with several Lehigh Valley choral ensembles and is passionate about fostering healthy vocal development and cultivating a love of music.
The Da Capo Treble Choir is accepting enrollment through the summer months! This introductory choir is for singers with unchanged voices in grades 3-6. Know a child who loves to sing? Visit bach.org/belcanto or email [email protected] for more information!
ABOUT THE BEL CANTO YOUTH CHORUS
The Bel Canto Youth Chorus of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem provides opportunities for excellence in choral education and performance. Comprising young musicians from the Lehigh Valley and neighboring counties, the chorus has developed a reputation for performing diversified choral repertoire at the highest standards. In 2023, Kelly Rocchi was appointed to Director of The Bel Canto Youth Chorus and oversaw a robust increase in enrollment and engagement. That same year, Alaina Swartz joined Bel Canto as the Conductor of the newly structured Youth Chorale.
Currently representing 13 school districts, Bel Canto works to enhance, strengthen, and collaborate with the music education and choral programs in the Lehigh Valley community. Bel Canto students have been selected by audition to participate in the PMEA District, Region, and State honors choirs. Collaboration between Bel Canto and the Bach Choir provides additional performance opportunities for students. Highlights include the CD recording of A Child’s Christmas in Bethlehem, Britten’s St. Nicholas, fully staged performances of Britten’s one-act opera Noyes Fludde, and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. The chorus has frequently collaborated with other artists, including the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Allentown Band, Bucks County Choral Society, Cordus Mundi Men’s Chorus, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, and Lehigh University Choral Union. Outreach has included Choral Village, Cantaré (a musical partnership with the Bethlehem Area School District), and professional development programs for educators.
The Bel Canto Youth Chorus was founded in 1993 in the Perkiomen Valley by Dr. Joy Hirokawa, who led the chorus for 30 years before passing the baton to Rocchi. Bel Canto has been consistently noted for its innovative, artistic programs. The choir has been invited to perform for numerous music conferences, including the Eastern Division ACDA, Eastern Division MENC, PMEA, AGO, and ACDA-PA conferences and has toured Central Europe, Italy, Ireland, Canada, England, Oregon, Brooklyn, Disney World, Ohio, and Hawaii. The chorus has been honored on multiple occasions as a winner of The American Prize in the Children’s Chorus category. Its widely acclaimed 2021 concert video, Stand Up: Singing the Underground Railroad, won 2nd place in the American Prize Virtual Performance 2023 Schools Division.
Bel Canto's evolving structure continues to serve the unique pedagogical needs of its singers, and three ensembles will be offered in the 2024–25 season: Da Capo Treble Choir, a training choir for singers in grades 3 through 6; the Youth Chorale, a select group of mixed voices for singers in grades 5 through 8; and the Concert Choir, a select group for SATB singers in grade 9 through their first year of collegiate study. Musicianship, leadership, and community are cornerstones of the ensembles. Through the performance of vigorous and diverse choral repertoire, including the works of J.S. Bach, a lifelong passion for the choral arts is inspired and cultivated. For more information: BACH.org/belcanto
ABOUT THE BACH CHOIR OF BETHLEHEM
THE OLDEST AMERICAN BACH CHOIR, The Bach Choir of Bethlehem gave the first complete American performances of Bach’s Mass in B Minor in 1900 and Christmas Oratorio in 1901. Since its founding in 1898, the now-famous Choir has been attracting thousands of visitors from across the United States and beyond to the annual Bethlehem Bach Festival in Pennsylvania. In 2022, Dr. Christopher Jackson became the seventh Artistic Director and Conductor of The Bach Choir of Bethlehem. The 90 dedicated volunteer singers of The Bach Choir, performing with the Bach Festival Orchestra and distinguished soloists, have received international acclaim. Programming includes 40 concerts and educational programs per year for an audience of more than 22,000. Venues have included the Salzburger Dom, Nikolaikirche in Potsdam, and the Thomaskirche, Bach’s church in Leipzig, as part of the 2024 European tour; Herkulessaal at Munich’s Royal Residence as part of the 1995 Germany tour; The Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall as part of The Choir’s Centennial Celebration in 1998–2000; the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall as part of an eight-concert tour of the United Kingdom in 2003; and Severance Hall, Cleveland, for the 75th anniversary of the Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival in 2007. In September 2011, The Bach Choir represented the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a 10th anniversary musical observance of 9/11 in New York City, giving concerts in Saint Paul’s Chapel and Trinity Church, Wall Street. In 2013, The Choir performed Mendelssohn’s Elijah at Strathmore in the Washington, D.C., area, and in 2014, the new opera Young Meister Bach for the 250th anniversary of the German Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The Choir has released 11 recordings on the Dorian and Analekta labels, including most recently Mendelssohn/Bach Matthäus-Passion (2024), Bach’s Cantata 21 and Handel’s Ode for Saint Cecilia’s Day (2018), A Child’s Christmas in Bethlehem (2013), and Saint John Passion (2012). The Choir has been featured on National Public Radio’s Performance Today and Prairie Home Companion, Deutsche Radio, the BBC World Service, CBS Sunday Morning, and the Emmy award-winning PBS documentary on The Choir, Make a Joyful Noise. It has been recognized for its outstanding educational outreach programs (Bach at Noon, Bach to School, and interdisciplinary Family Concerts) by annual awards from the National Endowment for the Arts (2011–2020). The J.S. Bach Foundation in Switzerland named The Bach Choir of Bethlehem as the first American recipient of its annual award to a single Bach organization, recognizing The Bach Choir’s outstanding work in Bach performance and education for young people (2012). Mr. Bach Comes to Call, a film based on the acclaimed Classical Kids CD, was co-produced by The Bach Choir of Bethlehem and is distributed internationally by the Children’s Group. The Bel Canto Youth Chorus is The Bach Choir’s youth choir educational program under the direction of Director Kelly Rocchi. Through Bel Canto and other educational programs, The Bach Choir is training the next generation of choral singers and cultivating a life-long passion for the choral arts. For more information visit The Bach Choir’s website – BACH.org
