Thank you
We're already planning for next year, including a performance of Bach's Mass in B minor in March 2025. Stay in touch on social media and check back here for more information on the upcoming season.
Bob & Joyce Herrema
Help us bring Bach's masterpiece, the Mass in B minor, to Scranton in 2025!
Learn more details about our partnership with our Founding Director, Robert Dale Herrema, who has recently given Arcadia Chorale a major gift in support of this performance in honor of his late wife and friend of the Chorale, Joyce Herrema.
Matthew Rupcich, Music Director; Mariane Ferrantino, Scholarship Committee Member; Jesse Dunaway, Scholarship Recipient; Susan Minsavage, Chair, Memorial Fund Committee
Congratulations to Jesse Dunaway
Arcadia Chorale’s Memorial Fund Committee was thrilled to award the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 Dr. Steven Thomas Memorial Scholarships to Jesse Dunaway.
Jesse recently completed his requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from North Dakota State University. He's accepted a full-time position as a music faculty member at Bethel University in Tennessee. Though we’re sad to see him go, we’re glad to have been part of his musical and academic journey and wish him all the best in this new stage of his career!
To learn more about Jesse and the Dr. Steven Thomas Memorial Fund, click here.
from our Music Director
Dear Friends of Choral Music ~
It’s my great pleasure to announce Arcadia Chorale’s 2023-2024 concert season! Our first program, Spirituals in Concert, celebrates the rich history of song originating from our African American brothers and sisters during slavery. This music tells stories of pain, hope, endurance, faith, and freedom. Join us for this spectacular concert!
Our December concert, A Christmas Rose, focuses on the image of the rose as a symbol for the Virgin Mary through pieces such as “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” and Guy Forbes’ “There is No Rose.” We’ll also invite the audience to join us in singing several traditional Christmas carols. Later that month, the annual Messiah Sing-Along gives our audience another opportunity to sing, this time to perform Handel’s masterpiece.
The theme of this spring’s 2024 NEPA Bach Festival is A Celebration of Milestones, as we acknowledge anniversaries of multiple composers. The weekend will include organ, chamber music, and choral concerts, and feature works by Palestrina, Bruckner, Fauré and Stanford. The Festival culminates with the Chorale’s performance of J. S. Bach’s Mass in G minor.
In May, we welcome the Doug Smith Jazz Trio for our Pops Concert, The Rat Pack and Mascots. Most people know the Rat Pack’s male singers, but did you know the group also had female members – Mascots – including Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and Lauren Bacall? Come hear music made famous by this infamous group!
Our season closes with the 3rd Annual Summer Sing. Are you a singer and long to perform a masterwork with a full orchestra? If so, join our Summer Sing Chorus! Community vocalists from the NEPA region sing alongside members of Arcadia Chorale during this mini-choral festival. We’ll spend a day and a half preparing a large-scale piece before performing it for the public.
We look forward to another full season of music making! Thank you for your continued support of Arcadia Chorale. We hope to see you soon!
~ Matthew Rupcich
Music Director
Arcadia Chorale
