(BASKING RIDGE, NJ) -- The New Jersey Youth Chorus (NJYC), a program of Wharton Arts, presents Sing into Spring on Sunday, May 18, 2025 at Ridge Performing Arts Center (68 South Finley Avenue) in Basking Ridge. Showtime is 4:00pm. The annual spring concert featuring all five NJYC choirs offers a vibrant, moving, and culturally rich program that reflects both the diversity of music and the depth of the choristers' growth throughout the season.
Said NJYC Founder and Director Trish Joyce, “Audiences will hear music from across centuries and continents, from traditional spirituals and folk songs to contemporary works by living composers. Highlights include Kuwa Furaha by Jim Papoulis, inspired by his work with children in Africa, where joy is expressed through rhythmic clapping and reaching to the sky. The Beat of a Different Drum by Sarah Quartel invites singers and audiences alike to celebrate individuality and embrace what makes them unique, while Family Tree by Stephen Hatfield poetically links generations through lullaby and memory. The concert also features spirited folk tunes such as the whimsical Scottish tale of Aiken Drum, the American railroad ballad Nine Hundred Miles, and the hopeful Georgia Sea Islands spiritual, Yonder Come Day. A barbershop-style rendition of I’m Gonna Live Till I Die adds upbeat energy, while beautiful lyrical selections like By Night by Elaine Hagenberg and Stars Tonight by Judith Herrington provide moments of beauty and reflection.”
The Sing into Spring concert will showcase the world premiere of Long Ago Back East, a new work by Dr. William Linthicum-Blackhorse. Commissioned by Wharton Arts with the generous support of the American Composers’ Forum and Chorus America’s 2024 Dale Warland Singers Commission Grant, the piece is scored for treble voices, flute, strings, and piano. The choral piece honors the legacy of Nora Thompson Dean, one of the last native speakers and indigenous culture-bearers of the Lenape (Unami dialect) language before her death in 1984.
Nora Thompson Dean was asked to officially represent the Delaware Nation and give a traditional smudging ceremony while speaking the Unami-Lenape language when the State of Oklahoma officially recognized the contributions of the Lenape people with the opening of the Delaware Room in the state capitol building in 1972. The Delaware Nation of Oklahoma is comprised of the decedents of those who marched the Delaware Trail of Tears and remained in the Oklahoma Indian Territory. New Jersey was once part of the homelands to the Lenape Native American Indian people, also known as the Delaware Tribe.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors, available at NJYC.org.
Dr. William Linthicum-Blackhorse (b.1989) is a multi-ethnic music composer in North America that has been actively commissioned, writing music for ensembles and performers across the globe. He has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Western Music Theory and performed as a Guest Artist for numerous ensembles. His works include a wide array of themes stemming from his cultural, environmental, and spiritual influences; namely his Latino, Anglo, and Lakȟóta heritages. He is currently a freelance composer living in the United States of America. Dr. Blackhorse is an active member of the global LGBT+ community, giving voice to all of those who are marginalized—with the goal of one day being granted equal liberty in our collective humanity.
“We are honored to be selected for the Dale Warland Singers Commission Grant,” said Helen H. Cha-Pyo, Artistic Director of Wharton Arts. “Through this project, we aim to deepen our commitment to educational programming that not only uplifts the voices of underrepresented composers but also fosters learning about history through the story of Lenape elder Nora Dean Thompson, an important voice we need to not only honor but to learn from and teach the next generation.”
Said Dr. Blackstone, “Our elders, from all communities, teach us their important traditions, morals, and values so that we can pass along that knowledge to future generations and do our best to live our lives according to their teachings. This music gives tribute to one of those elders in a beautiful, meaningful way and who better to deliver the message than the children of tomorrow.”
Sing into Spring also serves as a tribute to NJYC’s graduating seniors, many of whom have sung with NJYC for up to 12 years. They will be honored and recognized by the number of years that they have been a part of the program as well as the universities that they will attend in the fall. Their musical journey culminates with a performance of Homage by Z. Randall Stroope—a piece based on the composer’s father’s poetry and written in memory of lost loved ones. Graduating seniors will also be honored through senior boards, a beloved tradition displaying each chorister’s photo and personal reflections on their time at NJYC in the concert hall lobby. These tributes give the audience a glimpse into the personal growth, friendships, and transformative power of music choristers experience at NJYC. The concert will conclude with Blessing by Katie Moran Bart, sung by the entire chorus and alumni who are invited to join in a final, heartfelt farewell.
Registration is now open for Season 2025-26 auditions for the New Jersey Youth Chorus. Young singers who are passionate about music and eager to grow in a nurturing choir family are invited to audition in June. In addition to NJYC’s current ensembles, the Garden State’s premier youth choral program is excited to introduce Cor Amici, a new ensemble for boys in grades 6–8 designed to support their changing voices and deepen their musical experience. To schedule an audition and learn more about NJYC’s programs, 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.
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