(BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ) --Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts (WIPA) kicks off its Salon Series on Sunday, September 29 at 3:00pm at the Performing Arts School located at 60 Locust Avenue in Berkeley Heights. Cabaret-style seating on stage with the performers in Wharton’s black box theatre serves as the setting for an intimate concert featuring mezzo-soprano Ema Mitrović and pianist Christine Ciuffreda. The duo will perform Maurice Ravel’s Histoires Naturelles as well as works by American composers for voice and piano. Wine and cheese will be served.

The Sunday afternoon series continues on October 27 with the Winnicki family trio and concludes on November 24 with Sean Hack, trumpet and Christine Ciuffreda, piano.

Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for seniors, and free for Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts students. Tickets are available at the door or by calling 908-790-0700. Three-concert Salon Series subscription packages ranging from $15-$30 are now available, a savings of over 15% the box office ticket prices. For full concert details, visit www.WhartonArts.org.

The Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts’ mission is to provide the highest quality performing arts education to a wide range of students in a supportive and inclusive environment, where striving for personal excellence inspires and connects those we teach to the communities we serve.

Wharton is New Jersey’s largest independent non-profit community performing arts education center serving over 1,500 students through a range of classes and ensembles including the 15 ensembles of the New Jersey Youth Symphony, which serve 500 students in grades 3 – 12 by audition. Beginning with Out of the Box Music and Pathways classes for young children, Wharton offers private lessons, group classes, and ensembles for all ages and all abilities at the Performing Arts School. With the belief in the positive and unifying influence of music and the performing arts and that arts education should be accessible to all people regardless of their ability to pay, Wharton teaches all instruments and voice and has a robust musical theater program. Based in Paterson, New Jersey, the Paterson Music Project is an El Sistema-inspired program of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts that uses music as a vehicle for social change by empowering and inspiring children through the community experience of ensemble learning and playing.

Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts is located in Berkeley Heights, New Providence and Paterson, NJ and reaches students from 10 counties. All of Wharton’s extraordinary 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.