(NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ) - The New Jersey Youth Chorus (NJYC) presents its Winter Concert at Ridge Performing Arts Center located at 268 South Finley Avenue in Basking Ridge on Sunday, January 22 at 4:00pm. As part of its 30th Anniversary celebration, the five ensembles of NJYC will perform several pieces from years past, including works by Stephen Leek, Stephen Hatfield, Z. Randall Stroope, Jim Papoulis, Leonard Bernstein, Rollo Dilworth, and Tom Shelton. The family friendly performance will also celebrate the Lunar New Year, with pieces sung in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

Tickets start at $15 and are available for purchase online.

Founded in 1992 by Trish Joyce, the New Jersey Youth Chorus is an auditioned choral program for children in grades three through twelve, divided into five performing ensembles.  The Chorus, which joined Wharton Arts in July, performs frequently with professional ensembles including the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Canadian Brass, among others. Past highlights include performing at the White House for “Christmas at the White House, 2019,” with Queen Latifah at Super Bowl XLVIII, with six-time Grammy winner The Chieftains in NYC, with Barry Manilow at the Prudential Center, at the New Jersey State Theater’s Gala under both Oscar and Grammy award-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch and Bill Conti, with Ronan Tynan, at the Jimmy V Basketball Classic at Madison Square Garden, and multiple performances at Carnegie Hall. In addition, they have been a featured choir at regional and national music conferences and invited to perform the national anthem for several sports teams.

The choir's "Kids for Kids" initiative includes opportunities to perform and assist children’s organizations and charities, such as the Hugs for Brady Foundation, Casa of NJ, Goryeb Children’s Hospital, Relay for Life, Matthew Larson Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, Brooke Healey Foundation, Team Campbell Foundation, Good Grief, and many more. Their recording, “Stand Together, Music of Hope and Healing,” was donated to patients at area hospitals, facing cancer and other serious illnesses.

NJYC has participated in numerous festivals and tours to New Orleans, Hawaii, Canada, England, Italy, Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Budapest, Vienna, and Wales.  This summer, members of both high school ensembles, Coriste and Camerata, will tour Italy. 

Joe Miller, former Director of Choral Activities at Westminster Choir College, said this about the New Jersey Youth Chorus: “The New Jersey Youth Chorus is a tremendous musical ambassador for the state of New Jersey. They are an inspiring example of music making that makes our world a better place. The choir represents the highest quality of artistry and is making a difference in the lives of its singers and audiences.” 

Wharton Arts’ mission is to offer accessible, high quality performing arts education that sparks personal growth and builds inclusive communities.

Wharton Arts’ vision is for a transformative performing arts education in an inclusive community to be accessible for everyone.

Wharton Arts is New Jersey’s largest independent non-profit community performing arts education center serving nearly 2,000 students through a range of classes and ensembles. The 5 ensembles of the New Jersey Youth Chorus, an auditioned choral ensemble program for students in grades 3–12, encourage a love and appreciation of choral music while nurturing personal growth and creative development. The 15 ensembles of the New Jersey Youth Symphony, which serve over 500 students in grades 3–12 by audition, inspire young people to achieve musical excellence through high-level ensemble training and performance opportunities. Based in Paterson, the Paterson Music Project is an El Sistema-inspired program of Wharton Arts that uses music education as a vehicle for social action by empowering and inspiring young people to achieve their full potential through the community experience of ensemble learning and playing. From Pathways classes for young children to Lifelong Learning programs for adults, the Wharton Performing Arts School has a robust musical theater and drama program and offers both private and group classes for instruments and voice for all ages and all abilities. With the belief in the positive and unifying influence of music and that performing arts education should be accessible to all people regardless of their ability to pay, Wharton Arts offers need-based scholarships. 

Wharton Arts is located in Berkeley Heights, New Providence, and Paterson, NJ and reaches students from 12 counties. All of Wharton Arts’ extraordinary teaching artists, faculty members, and conductors hold degrees in their teaching specialty and have been vetted and trained to enable our students to achieve their personal best.