New Jersey Youth Symphony & Chorus 2023 Italy Tour

The New Jersey Youth Symphony and New Jersey Youth Chorus have 520k committed on their own for its amazing ten-day 2023 summer tour in Italy but still need 60k in scholarships to support all our student musicians in their travel endeavors.

The New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS), founded in 1979, is a tiered orchestral program offering ensemble education for students in grades 3-12 across New Jersey. NJYS has grown from one orchestra of 65 students to over 500 students in 15 different orchestras and ensembles, including the internationally recognized Youth Symphony. NJYS ensembles have performed in venues including the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Carnegie Hall, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

NJYS has received numerous prestigious awards for its adventurous programming from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and has had six European tours, including participation in the Summa Cum Laude International Youth Festival and Competition (Vienna), winning First Prizes in July 2014 and 2017.

Now in its 44nd season, NJYS continues to achieve musical excellence through intensive instruction and high-level performance. Under the guidance of a talented team of conductors, coaches, and teaching artists, students are immersed in challenging repertoire, learning the art of ensemble playing, and exploring their potential in a supportive and inclusive environment.

NJYS remains committed to programming works by diverse composers and featured 20th-century African-American and women composers such as Duke Ellington, George Walker, Yvonne Desportes, Emma Lou Diemer, Julia Perry, and Florence Price this past season.

Founded in 1992 by Trish Joyce, the New Jersey Youth Chorus (NJYC), previously known as the Somerset Children's Chorus, is an auditioned choral program for children in grades three through twelve. There are five performing ensembles in NJYC: Primo Coro (girls, grades 3-5), Sola Voce (girls, grades 6-8), Coro Vivo (boys with unchanged voices, grades 3-8), Camerata (boys with changing and changed voices, grades 7-12) and Coriste (girls, grades 9-12.) NJYC is home to choristers from throughout northern and central New Jersey.

We pride ourselves on providing transformative musical education, as well as premier performance and touring opportunities. The chorus has performed with many professional ensembles such as the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Brass, Chieftans, Celtic Tenors, Ronan Tynan, Marvin Hamlisch, Bill Conti, Barry Manilow, Cantus, and Queen Latifah at Superbowl XLVIII. We have performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center for the Arts, NJ Performing Arts Center, Prudential Center, State Theater, and the White House.

We have been a featured choir at multiple music educator conferences, such as ACDA, OAKE, and AOSA. We often host visiting youth choirs, and music educator workshops are a regular part of the Chorus’s offerings. NJYC has sung the national anthem at several professional sports stadiums and has participated in numerous national and international festivals and tours.

The choir's "Kids for Kids" initiative includes opportunities to perform and assist children’s organizations and charities, such as Goryeb Children’s Hospital, Relay for Life, the Brooke Healey Foundation, and many more. NJYC produced and distributed a CD entitled Stand Together: Music for Hope and Healing, a project benefitting cancer patients in local hospitals.

The New Jersey Youth Symphony and New Jersey Youth Chorus are programs of Wharton Arts. Wharton Arts is New Jersey’s largest non-profit performing arts education organization serving nearly 2,000 students of all ages and abilities through various classes and ensembles. In addition to the New Jersey Youth Symphony and New Jersey Youth Chorus programs, Wharton Arts also includes the Paterson Music Project and Performing Arts School.

Your donation will make a difference in having our students who need scholarships tour in the summer of 2023 to Italy with the New Jersey Youth Symphony. These international tours are life-changing experiences for our students, and we want you to be part of making this possible through your generosity of donating.

Thank you!