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ALSO SERVING HUMMELSTOWN & MIDDLETOWN
NOVEMBER 13, 2024
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Susquehanna Chorale will usher in festive season BY CATHY MOLITORIS
Youth and adult ensembles perform with the Susquehanna Chorale at a previous concert.
Nowell.” Guest artists will include the Messiah University Brass and Percussion, which will perform a pre-concert recital 15 minutes prior to each concert. “In all of my programming, I emphasize the element of communication with the audience,” Tedford said. “We hold singers to a high standard for technique, but we also talk about ‘What would you want the audience to feel at this moment? What do you want them to get from this piece?’ We work very hard on interpretation and facial expression and showing the love we have for choral music as a group.” At the Christmas concerts, audiences can enjoy beautifully decorated venues, she said, noting that each concert will feature a candlelight procession and recessional. The Susquehanna Chorale is a recipient of Chorus America’s most prestigious award, the Margaret Hillis Award for
Artistic and Organizational Achievement, and several of the chorale’s recordings have been considered for Grammy nominations. Conductor Tedford has been honored by the American Choral Directors Association of Pennsylvania with the Elaine Brown Award for lifelong commitment to excellence and leadership in the choral art. She has also received Theatre Harrisburg’s Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts in the Capital Region, among other honors. The chorale is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Spring concerts will be held in Hershey and Harrisburg. For more information, visit www .susquehannachorale.org/per formances. Both in-person and livestream ticket options are available.
Dyslexia is something that we might not fully understand. Dyslexia may be something we don’t talk enough about. Dyslexia might be more prevalent than we realize. It’s a learning disorder that Children’s Dyslexia Center (CDC) of Lancaster can help manage and, in some instances, even overcome. “What everyone needs to understand is that (dyslexia is) neurological, it runs in families and it affects language processing,” said Heather Brown, who’s been CDC of Lancaster’s director for 10 years. “What it’s not is reading backwards. It’s about how kids process language, how the brain processes language. Words and sentences look the same, but it’s daunting to read. Students work so hard to get through paragraphs that by the end of them they don’t remember the meaning. You have to break the reading code. We teach kids how to break that code, so it frees the brain up.” Located at 213 W. Chestnut St., Lancaster, CDC of Lancaster teaches school-age children with dyslexia from Lancaster, Dauphin, York, Chester and Lebanon counties how to read, write and spell. Much of the work is performed in one-onone settings after school. CDC of Lancaster also trains adults how to tutor kids with dyslexia. All of its services are provided free of charge. “(T he number of people affected by dyslexia is) a hard number to quantify,” said Brown. “It’s estimated that See CDC pg 2
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Candlelight Christmas concerts will celebrate the season with music including traditional carols. These concerts will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, De c . 1 3 , at E l i z a b e t h to w n Church of the Brethren, 777 S. Mount Joy St., Elizabethtown; at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Messiah University; and at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15, at Market Square Presbyterian Church, 20 S. Second St., Harrisburg. The chorale will perform several carol arrangements to honor the late Alice Parker, well-known in chorale circles for her contributions to the genre. Parker passed away last year at the age of 98. Selections will include “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella” and “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Brass accompaniments will add depth to pieces including “Gloria Fanfare” and “Festival First
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CDC helps kids comprehend reading in entirely different ways BY JEFF FALK
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n 1981, Linda Tedford founded the Susquehanna Chorale after she and her husband moved to central Pennsylvania from the Philadelphia area. More than 40 years later, the chorale is still going strong, and several ensembles will present holiday concerts this month and next. The Susquehanna Chorale’s season, “A Kaleidoscope of Song,” will feature the 42-member adult chamber ensemble nationally known for its musicality and emotional connection to the music. The season will kick off with the Youth Choral Festival at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 24. The concert will be held at Messiah University’s Calvin and Janet High Center for Worship and Performing Arts, University Avenue, Mechanicsburg. The festival will feature the Children, Youth, Alta Voce and Adult chorales. “Both the youth and adult groups perform on their own, and then at the end, we come together to sing this beautiful anthem of peace, written to commemorate the revolution in Estonia,” Tedford shared. “It’s maybe 170 people on stage, an intergenerational choir singing a piece that concludes the whole concert, a plea for peace in the world. It’s a goosebumpy moment.” The youth choral group is made up of high school and college students throughout central Pennsylvania. “These kids are all here because they really want to sing,” Tedford said. “They have high motivation to do things really well. The conductors expect nothing but the best from them, and they get it. It’s an inspiration to see these kids working to the top of their ability and the talent they have.”
VOL XXXVII • NO 19