Young People's Philharmonic of the Lehigh Valley
The Young People’s Philharmonic of the Lehigh Valley was founded in 1976 by Jerry T. and Nancy Bidlack, and now comprises two orchestras: the YPP, a full symphonic orchestra made up of some 80 high school students, and the Junior Strings Philharmonic (JSP), a string orchestra of some 40 middle school and elementary school students. The young musicians come from Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley (Lehigh, Northampton, Monroe, Carbon, Bucks, and Berks counties), the Poconos region, and Western New Jersey. Admission to both groups is by audition. Weekly rehearsals take place at First Presbyterian Church in Bethlehem.
The Bidlacks were both longtime Lehigh University faculty members (Jerry chaired Lehigh's Music Department from 1980-86) and served as directors of the two youth orchestras for more than three decades. Nancy, an accomplished cellist, conducted the JSP until Kenneth Bean replaced her in 2010. Nancy Bidlack died of Lou Gehrig's Disease in 2012. Jerry Bidlack stepped down as the YPP's conductor in 2015; he died in 2016.
Bean, a trumpeter with degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Jackson State University, now directs the YPP. His counterpart in the JSP is bassist Domenick Fiore, a graduate of West Chester University and a notable proponent of the Suzuki method of music instruction.
References
- ↑ Allentown Morning Call, 2016-3-6 Bethlehem concert to honor Young People's Philharmonic founder., retrieved 2016-11-27.
- ↑ Lehigh Valley Live, 2016-2-27 A career spent inspiring kids with classical music., retrieved 2016-11-27.
- ↑ Allentown Morning Call, 2013-12-16, A MUSICAL TRIBUTE ** Junior String Philharmonic will premiere a piece that honors a founder of the group (Lauer-Williams, Kathy), retrieved 2016-11-28.