Lehigh Choir, Glee Club and Dolce Present
There's No Place Like Home
In the fall of 2020, when we couldn't be together to sing due to COVID-19, the students of the Lehigh University Choir, treble ensemble Dolce, and the men's Glee Club explored works addressing our feelings of home, belonging and community. For it is the community that brings us together to sing, and keeps us together in challenging times. This video includes new compositions by our students and faculty, as well as repertoire on the theme of what home means, and comments by students and faculty about our community of singing. Countless hours went into the creation of this semester-long project. Our thanks to the dedicated students who helped create the music — all of which was recorded remotely by each singer — and those students who engineered the audio, often learning skills on the fly. Our gratitude to Stephanie Veto of the Lehigh Office of Communications for her beautiful work creating the video for "There's No Place Like Home".
Reflections By Alumni
ELLIE (WOODS) KAHLE (’11)
“Choral Arts gave my Lehigh career purpose and an outlet to express myself surrounded by an amazing community. It was my home and safe place.” read more
JOHN COLE (’82)
My dear friend and fellow Lehigh Choir alum, Karen (Lindquist) Randall, ’83, once told me, “I think when you sing with people, you form a bond with them that is unique. A choir is different from your normal circle of friends or other groups you form based on many shared similarities. It’s a more diverse group, drawn together by a single, mutual interest. It’s the love of music that matters, at least at first. Then, as you join voices, something mystical happens. The thrill of creating something of beauty together forges that bond and leads to a realization: the differences between people you thought were there really aren’t there at all. You become a better person. Making music has a powerful effect.” I couldn’t agree more. I’ve heard similar sentiments from other musicians, and I know it’s true for me. read more
WHO WE ARE
Lehigh University Choral Arts boasts a choral tradition dating back to the 1870s. The Choir was first formed by director Robert “Boss” Cutler in 1979, taking the all-male Glee Club and all-female Chamber Singers (under the direction of Jerry Bidlack) and combining them into a single group.
Under the tutelage of Dr. Steven Sametz, the Choir has grown to over 70 students from across all undergraduate colleges, majors and disciplines. The LUCA family currently includes the Choral Union; the Choir; the men’s Glee Club; and Dolce, the women’s ensemble. Choral Union, the largest ensemble with 150 singers, includes members of the University and Lehigh Valley communities.
LUCA travels to exotic locations on our bi-annual tours, such as Hawaii (2013), Costa Rica (2011), Portugal (2009), China (2007), Northern Italy (2015), and Spain (2017). Last summer we toured in Hungary and Austria!
The program is directed by Steven Sametz, Ronald J. Ulrich Professor of Music, and Sun Min Lee, Robert Cutler Professor of Practice and director of Dolce.