The classical music calendar highlights include an organ and piano recital for the benefit of the Old Allentown Preservation Association and a spring concert by the Reading Mandolin Orchestra presented by the Hellertown Historical Society.<\/p>\n
Johnny Walsh, area pianist and vice president of the Old Allentown Preservation Association (OAPA), and Drew Lutz-Long, organist and associate music director of Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown, will present classical and contemporary selections to celebrate OAPA\u2019s diverse community.<\/p>\n
The OAPA Benefit Spring Recital is at 2 p.m. April 18 in Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown.<\/p>\n
\u201cOAPA was founded in 1976 when the neighborhood was under the threat of being demolished for public housing,\u201d says Walsh.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the course of the last 50 years, faithful volunteers of OAPA have worked tirelessly to continually make Allentown cleaner, greener and safer,\u201d Walsh continues.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimilarly, Christ Lutheran Church has made significant strides to support our community development offering dynamic and engaging community events,\u201d says Walsh.<\/p>\n
Walsh moved to the OAPA neighborhood several years ago and with Lutz-Long in October 2025 planned a fundraiser concert for OAPA.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, in a sincere effort to keep the momentum going, we have decided to team up again and present a concert which features classical selections from Bach to Rachmaninov, timeless and traditional hymns, as well as contemporary highlights from Toto to Nirvana,\u201d Walsh says.<\/p>\n
\u201cProceeds from the concert support the ongoing mission of OAPA to make neighborhoods safe and beautiful and to support the concert series at Christ Lutheran Church,\u201d says Walsh.<\/p>\n
Old Allentown Preservation Association Benefit Spring Recital, 2 p.m. April 18, Christ Lutheran Church, 1245 Hamilton St., Allentown. Tickets: $20 suggested donation; https:\/\/www.oldallentownpa.org\/events<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying mandolin \u2026 it\u2019s magic, and then you realize how it expands your palette of color and sound,\u201d says Joe Todaro, conductor and founder of the Reading Mandolin Orchestra.<\/p>\n
The Hellertown Historical Society presents the Reading Mandolin Orchestra \u201cSpring Concert,\u201d 7 p.m. April 15, Tavern Room, Heller-Wagner Grist Mill, Hellertown.<\/p>\n
Says Todero, \u201cWe\u2019ll be playing traditional mandolin orchestra works for this concert with a focus on a sound where classical and folkloric music meet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jan Macintosh, concert organizer and a member of the Hellertown Historical Society, says, \u201cMandolins, mandolas, mandocellos, Spanish guitar, double bass, accordion and percussion create a sound that is both romantic and dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macintosh, who plays mandolin, is a member of Lehigh Valley Mandolins.<\/p>\n
The concert\u2019s repertoire of rhythms includes rhumba, tango, mazurka, polka, waltzes, tarantella and marches.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe library of the ensemble includes hundreds of pieces dating back to 1890 as well as modern compositions,\u201d Macintosh says.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my favorite pieces is a Spanish-themed work by Italian composer and virtuoso mandolinist Eduardo Mezzacapo (1832-1898),\u201d says Todero, adding, \u201cHe performed in a quartet in France and founded The French Mandolin School.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concert includes an Italian polka from the 20th century and Todero\u2019s arrangement of \u201cThula Baba,\u201d based on a beautiful African melody.<\/p>\n
Says Todero, \u201cJoin us as we perform the music we love on instruments to which we are dedicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Reading Mandolin Orchestra, founded in 2017 by six musicians, has 11 members who perform regularly with Lehigh Valley Mandolins, Philadelphia Mandolin Ensemble and the Munier Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra.<\/p>\n
Lehigh Valley Mandolins specializes in traditional and classical mandolin repertoire and promotes preservation of mandolin music in the local community.<\/p>\n
The Hellertown Historical Society, founded in 1981, is dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of Hellertown and its people. In 1984, the Society was granted a 99-year lease from the Borough of Hellertown to occupy, restore and maintain the 35-acre Heller-Wagner Grist Mill tract and buildings.<\/p>\n
The Hellertown Historical Society presents the Reading Mandolin Orchestra \u201cSpring Concert,\u201d 7 p.m. April 15, Tavern Room, Heller-Wagner Grist Mill, 150 West Walnut St., Hellertown. Tickets: at the door; https:\/\/hellertownhistoricalsociety.org\/event-list\/<\/p>\n
\u201cClassical View\u201d is a column about classical music concerts, conductors and performers. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOLeft to right: Johnny Walsh, Drew Lutz-Long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The classical music calendar highlights include an organ and piano recital for the benefit of the Old Allentown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-162118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}