(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- Wharton Arts, New Jersey's largest not-for-profit community performing arts education organization, announced that the New Jersey Youth Chorus (NJYC) will host the Voices of Joy Choral Festival on Saturday, November 16, 2024 at Dolan Hall, Annunciation Center at Saint Elizabeth University in Morristown.

Open to young singers in grades 4-6, participants will spend the day rehearsing, playing games, and making new friends while working with NJYC’s exceptional directors. Check-in begins at 9:30am and the festival will conclude with a free public concert at 3:00pm. There is a $35 registration fee for participants, which includes a festival t-shirt. The deadline to register is Friday, November 1. For more information and to register to participate, visit NJYC.org.

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.