Sponsors Programs for Adults The 100-voice SYMPHONIC CHORUS regularly presents Fall and Spring programs, and joins with the other Children's and Youth Ensembles for December's annual "Christmas with the Choral Society." Since 2001, the chorus has also regularly joined the Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic in their annual December "Home For The Holidays" programs.  The Chorus explores a wide range of repertoire, ranging from choral/orchestra or a cappella masterworks to contemporary premieres, including recent performances of Haydn's Creation, the Mozart, Rutter, and Fauré Requiems, Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna, and Donald McCullough's Holocaust Cantata. Interested singers are accepted through private audition, purchase and retain their own musical scores, and pay a modest tuition of $50.00 per semester. Weekly rehearsals are held on Monday evenings from 6:30-9:00 pm at Langcliffe Presbyterian Church, 1001 Main Street in Avoca.  The church is easily accessed from Interstate 81 and conveniently located between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. The Society's adult chamber ensemble, THE CHORAL ARTISTS OF NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA, was formed in 2000 to collaborate with the Northeastern Philharmonic in special holiday performances of Handel's Messiah, and has subsequently collaborated with the internationally acclaimed Amernet String Quartet in the regional premiere of Mike Reid's Prairie Songs, and appeared on the Scranton Cultural Center's "Second Sunday" Series.  The ensemble performs a wide variety of choral chamber music, with a special emphasis on music of the early Baroque. Members are selected by audition and rehearse from 9:00-9:45 pm on Monday evenings at Langcliffe Presbyterian Church, following the conclusion of the weekly Symphonic Chorus meeting. Programs for Children and Youth The Choral Society of Northeast Pennsylvania sponsors six unique choral ensembles serving children age 5 through high school: Cantus Novus:  Training choir for children ages 5-7.  Directed by Leslie Moran. Cantilena:  Training choir for children ages 8-10.  Directed by Gina Lupini Lehman. Kantorei:  Training choir for children age 11-13.  Directed by Leslie Moran. Chanteuses:  Training choir for youth age 14-18.  Directed by Jodi Rinehimer. Camerata:  Premier male vocal ensemble for changed voices.  Directed by Jodi Rinehimer. Cantare:  Premier, auditioned treble choir.  Directed by Susan Kelly. Mirroring the diversity of their individual names (all drawn from various Romance language words for "singers," "singing," or "song,") all the ensembles explore a wide range of musical styles, periods, and languages.  Collectively, they prepare and present four public programs each year: Fall and Mid-Winter programs of classical repertoire, folksongs, and spirituals; a December program of holiday selections; and a concluding Spring concert of music from the Pop and Broadway traditions. Additionally, the KANTOREI CHOIR joins with the Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic each December in their annual "Home For The Holidays" program, and many of the ensembles participate each year, as well, in Wilkes-Barre's May Fine Arts Fiesta.  In 2001 the KANTOREI CHOIR presented the regional premiere of the famed Holocaust children's opera, "Brundíbar," in fully staged performances that featured the last living member of the original Terezín cast, Ela Weissberger.  As the Children's and Youth Program's premier touring ensemble, the CANTARE CHOIR is regularly called upon for performances across both the community and region, including the Commonwealth's annual Blue Mass, celebrated each Spring on the capital steps in memory of law enforcement officers lost in the line of duty.  The ensemble's 2001 CD recording, "America The Beautiful," helped pave the way for their first international tour to South Wales and England during the summer of 2002, and in 2005, the ensemble presented the world premiere of Daniel Kallman's Three Poems of Sara Teasdale, commissioned by the Choral Society in memory of Julia Rose Kvashay. The program's fully professional teaching/conducting staff employs a teaching program based on the Kodaly pedagogical method to offer all singers regular instruction in music reading skills, as well as a sound technical foundation for continued singing.  The success of the program evident each year in the selection of members to a variety of district, state, regional, and national honor choirs.  All singers are initially auditioned for placement into an appropriate ensemble, their development monitored by the staff to determine appropriate advancement through the training program. Children & Youth Program participants pay modest tuition of $60.00 per semester (Fall, Spring), with reduced rates for multiple sibling participation.  This supports, in-part, the supply of professional staff (conductors and accompanists), as well as the rental of venues, hiring of instrumentalists, and printing of programs.  All music is supplied and remains the property of the Choral Society, but each Children's & Youth member purchases their own performance uniform. Children & Youth members are also required to participate in one additional fund-raising project per semester in support of the Society's annual budget, which regularly exceeds $80,000 dollars.  Common projects are the sale of candy, donuts, or cheesecakes.