To join the Hamilton-Gibson Choral Program for free, boys and girls in the second through fourth grades can register for Choir, Too and in fifth through eighth grades for the HG Treble Choir.

The first regular rehearsal for both choirs is at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22 at the First Presbyterian Church at 130 Main Street in Wellsboro. Choir Too will rehearse until 5 p.m. and the HG Treble Choir until 5:30 p.m.

Rehearsals are in Fellowship Hall in the rear of the building and will continue on Tuesdays during the school year. Singers are welcome to arrive after school and work on homework or play on the playground until rehearsals begin.

The Season Kickoff for the HG Treble Choir starts at 10 a.m. this Thursday, Aug. 17, at His Thousand Hills at 458 Phippen Road, Wellsboro, PA 16901 in Delmar Township. It ends with a potluck dinner for choir members and their parents. Information will be shared about the 2024 spring performance trip to Maryland,

and the choir’s proposed European trip in the spring of 2025.

“Singing in a choir offers a unique experience for children,” said HG Treble Choir Director Thomas Putnam.

“In a choir, all differences are laid aside and singers are united in a common creative goal,” he said. “Performing choral music is not a platform for any particular agenda, and for this reason is transformative in that it provides a vision of what the world could be–a place of harmony,” said Putnam.

“Emphasizing individual understanding and musical skill development, our primary mission is to provide quality music instruction resulting in the highest level of artistic excellence in choral performance,” he said. “Our program also helps singers grow personally and socially through promotion of their own sense of self-esteem, accomplishment and confidence,” said Putnam.

“Our singers typically come from communities all over Tioga County and beyond, and from all different schooling situations: public, private and home. It is a safe place for kids to explore so much: different cultures, different worldviews, and their own feelings and emotions,” said Putnam.

The Hamilton-Gibson Choral Program is community-based and open to singers of all races, creeds and socioeconomic and musical experience levels.

The registration form can be found on the HG website at www.hamiltongibson.org or can be requested by calling 570-724-2079 or emailing hamgib@gmail.com. 

To register, download the form, print off a copy, complete it and bring it to 29 Water Street, Wellsboro, PA 16901 or scan it and email it to hamgib@gmail.com.