(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- The New Jersey Youth Chorus (NJYC), a program of Wharton Arts, will present Just Us Girls on Saturday, March 8, 2025 at Morristown United Methodist Church (50 South Park Place) in Morristown. The event is free. Donations can be made to support the Brooke Healey Foundation. Showtime is 4:00pm.
NJYC’s Coriste, Sola Voce, and Primo Coro singers will join together for Just Us Girls, a concert in honor of International Women’s Day and benefitting the Brooke Healey Foundation. This New Providence-based not-for-profit organization was started in honor of five-year-old Brooke Healey, who passed away in 2013 from Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), an inoperable and aggressive form of brain cancer that only affects children and has a 100% fatality rate. The foundation works to build awareness and raise funds for DGIP research and supports families dealing with pediatric cancers.
The concert will feature Neil Ginsberg’s Two Poems of Emily Dickinson; Grow Little Tree by Andrea Ramsey, which reflects the journey of childhood and the loving guidance of those who help us grow; Andrea Ramsey’s Letter From a Girl to the World, which the composer hopes will inspire young women “to be confident, educated, and comfortable in their own skin;" The Beat of a Different Drum by Sarah Quartel; Abbie Betinis’ Be Like the Bird, dedicated to a program called High Rocks, which inspires each girl to know that “she hath wings;” and Light of a Clear Blue Morning by Dolly Parton (arranged by Craig Hella Johnson), which is a song of hope and resilience. All three NJYC choirs will combine for When I Rise Up by J. David Moore; the text by Wendall Barry reminds us that, no matter the struggles we face, we can rise again through the strength we find within ourselves: rise up with joy and fall without regret.
Said Trish Joyce, NJYC Founder and Director, “Choral music has the power to unite, heal, and inspire. At this concert, our girls and young women will lift their voices in a powerful celebration of strength, resilience, and hope. In addition to celebrating International Women's Day, we are thrilled to support the Brooke Healey Foundation, an organization that works tirelessly to bring hope and healing to children and families in need. Each work on the concert program reminds us that no matter what the challenge, we rise together and lift each other up. Based on the inspiration of one of our pieces, Letter from a Girl to the World, a special touch will include our choristers’ own thoughts as a ‘Letter from the NJYC Girls to the World.’ In addition, the Brooke Healey Foundation’s logo is a butterfly, signifying hope, love, and transformation, and audience members will be invited to write a short note on butterfly cards that will be distributed to families served by the Foundation. Special alumni guests Ginny LaFean and Annie Salorio will share their talents on our program as well.”
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.
