(BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ) -- Wharton Arts, New Jersey's largest independent non-profit performing arts education center, has announced its 2024-25 season, a celebration of creating, experiencing, and sharing joy through the transformative power of the performing arts. This season, Wharton Arts will present an array of performances and programs to ignite joy in audiences of all ages. For a complete listing of concerts and events and to purchase tickets, visit WhartonArts.org.

Season highlights include the Signature Concert Series by the New Jersey Youth Symphony: a patriotic Veterans Day Concert and A Concert for Peace with Violins of Hope, featuring award-winning guest soloists, including Jeffrey Biegel, Ranaan Meyer, and Asi Matathias; a collaboration between theNew Jersey Youth Chorus and world-renowned Lyyra, the only professional six-voice women's a cappella group in the United States; a special concert commemorating the powerful impact of various Black artists in the Paterson Music Project’s Black History Month Celebration; and productions at the Performing Arts School. Wharton Arts is thrilled to showcase Wharton Players in Alice in Wonderland JR and Wharton Community Players in Next to Normal, the three-time Tony Award-winning show that was the recipient of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Said Executive Director Gina Caruso, “This season at Wharton Arts, we invite everyone to be part of a joyful celebration through a wide range of spectacular performances and programs for students of all ages and backgrounds. Serving nearly 2,000 students across 12 counties, we're thrilled to share the transformative power of the performing arts with our community."

“We are excited to present a season dedicated to creating, experiencing, and sharing joy as a community through music and the performing arts,” said Helen Cha-Pyo, Artistic Director of Wharton Arts. “I hope our performances remind everyone that music connects cultures, carries our deepest emotions, and uniquely heals and unites people of all ages in a shared experience of joy.”

Alongside these exciting events, Wharton Arts’ new strategic plan aims to create meaningful connections and foster creativity in young people, as well as across generations, ensuring that everyone has access to an outstanding music and theater arts education. The depth and breadth of offerings, unmatched in the Garden State, transcends backgrounds and beliefs. Wharton Arts encompasses four distinct programs, each founded to advance music and performing arts education and engagement: the New Jersey Youth Chorus, New Jersey Youth Symphony, Paterson Music Project, and Performing Arts School. Join Wharton Arts this Season of Joy for life-changing performing arts experiences through all its programs.

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