In the spring of 2022, director Debra A. Kline-Smith retired from Warwick High School as director of choirs after 35 years of service to our Lititz community. During her tenure, she developed many award-winning ensembles and musicians who were recognized regionally, statewide, and nationally, and travelled the world with performers from around the area, leading a wide range of both multicultural and musical experiences. At her retirement celebration during her final concert, alumni were invited to return for a special performance honoring her years of hard work and excellence. More than 50 alumni returned to join the then-current choir members in song in recognition of her exemplary career.
From this performance, the Lititz Area Community Choir was born in the fall of 2022. Consisting of Warwick High School alumni, friends of the choir and the Warwick music program, and community members from Lititz and surrounding areas, our choir currently consists of around 85 members, including private students of Debbie’s who graciously lend their musical talents to help bring beautiful experiences in song to our town.
The Lititz Area Community Choir is indeed a community organization. This is not an auditioned choir that excludes members it deems “less skilled”. Rather, this choir is open to everyone. We strongly believe that the arts, and music in particular, are privileges that should be extended to all, and that excellence is always attainable through hard work and discipline. We perform two concerts per year: a winter holiday concert before Christmas, and a spring concert that usually occurs in late April. We also host social events for our members two or three times per year: an introductory dinner before each fall season, a Thanksgiving dessert social, and a spring dessert social.
Rehearsals are primarily held on Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 PM during concert preparatory seasons. The winter concert rehearsals generally occur from mid-September until the concert in December, with additional rehearsals planned during the week prior to the performance. Spring concert rehearsals generally begin in mid-January and run until the concert in April, again with additional rehearsals during performance week. Occasionally, the rehearsal schedule is adjusted to account for holidays (for example, Thanksgiving, Maundy Thursday, etc.). Our rehearsals are held at the Brunnerville United Methodist Church, located at 517 Pine Hill Road in Lititz (north of town, near John Beck Elementary School).
If you are interested in joining the choir, you may e-mail us at lacc@ptd.net to express your interest. We will be happy to add you to our mailing lists and let you know when our events and rehearsals will be taking place. We welcome singers of all ages and from all walks of life, whether you sing regularly now or haven’t sung for several years. We have a place for you!
Lititz Area Community Choir is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
