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Morning Call: Top 20 virtual events in the Lehigh Valley to enjoy with your family at home this week
April 9th, 2020 | In The News
Written by Debra Schnecker for The Morning Call
Looking for a few suggestions on how to enjoy your time at home while disconnected from your favorite entertainment venues? Let’s continue to enjoy life — while protecting others. Just because social distancing is in full effect and our activities are limited, this doesn’t mean your time indoors is doomed to be dull.
Here’s a list of the top 20 Lehigh Valley virtual activities for you and your family to enjoy at home:
The Bach Choir of Bethlehem presents: Bach at Noon in Your House, noon-1 p.m April 14. Viewers can watch the January Bach at Noon concert in its entirely. The concert includes Greg Funfgeld’s informal insights into the music performed by members of The Bach Choir and Bach Festival Orchestra. https://www.facebook.com/BethlehemBach
Berks Art Council presents Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest encore online concert series April 10-13. The 30th anniversary Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest was postponed and rescheduled for April 9-18, 2021 with the same artist lineup and schedule. All current tickets will be honored on the corresponding artist/show dates. To help fill the void, Berks Arts Council and festival officials are providing fans with online concert experiences. The online concerts are posted on the Berks Jazz Fest Facebook page at the designated date and time. After the scheduled Facebook posting, all concerts are available on the Berks Jazz Fest Vimeo Channel so fans can view shows they missed. The encore lineup: April 10: Brian Culbertson (2017), 9 p.m.; April 11: “We’re in This Love Together”Chris Walker’s Tribute to Al Jarreau featuring Regina Belle, Rick Braun, Eric Marienthal (2019), 3 p.m.; Marcus Miller (2017), 6 p.m.; Boney James (2019), 9 p.m.; April 12: Jazz Gets the Blues featuring Nick Colionne, Steve Cole, Eric Darius, Clarence Spady, Pat Bianchi, Alexis P Suter, Vickie Bell and The Berks Horns (2017). 3 p.m.; Kirk Whalum’s Gospel According to Jazz featuring Fred Hammond, John Stoddart, Kevin Whalum and DOXA Gospel Ensemble (2017), 7 p.m.; April 13: Art Sherrod & The ASJ Orchestra’s Motown, Soul Revue & Aretha Franklin Tribute Jeff Kashiwa, Elan Trotman, Paul Brown, Kevin Whalum, Tracy Hamlin, Jeff Bradshaw, David P Stevens, Benjie Porecki with 14-piece orchestra (2019) 7:30 p.m. https://berksjazzfest.com/
Nurture Nature Center offers several short science lesson YouTube videos that can be accessed via the Nurture Nature Center FaceBook page along with a slide show narrated by Easton forester Rob Christopher on kinds of small trees suitable for small yards. Nurture Curiosity Cafe, an opportunity to talk about science will be held at 7 p.m. April 17. facebook.com/nurturenaturecenter/
Miller Symphony Hall@Home features presentations of past performances, intimate live recordings and a connection to online content to partners. Encore performances from The Met Live in Had include April 9: Wagner’s Parsifal from March 2, 2013; April 10: Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette from Jan. 21, 2017; April 11: Donizetti’s Don Pasquale from Nov. 13, 2010; April 12: Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte from March 31, 2018. Jazz Upstairs performances recorded live from the Rodale Room at Miller Symphony Hall are presented in partnership with Channel 39: Viktorija Gecyte with the Gene Perla Trio, performed on May 18, 2018 and Chaise Lounge, performed July 13, 2018. https://www.millersymphonyhall.org
Martin Guitar continues its Facebook live series, Jam in Place, where viewers can hang out with their favorite artists with performances by Brian Fallon, noon April 10; Tennille Townes, 4 p.m. April 13; Alyssa Bonagura (The Sisterhood Band), 7 p.m. April 14; Craig Thatcher, noon April 15; Courtney Marie Andrews, noon April 16 and Amythyst Kiah, noon April 17. The jam sessions can be found on Martin Guitar’s Facebook page, facebook.com/martinguitar/
Virtual Muse the monthly performance series and open mike hosted by Tuesday Muse and Lehigh Valley Poetry will be virtual 7-10 p.m. April 14. Sign up information is available at https://www.facebook.com/events/218416682582611/
The Allentown Art Museum will feature a new activity online each Sunday, along with coloring pages, storyboards and more. Participants can share their artwork for a chance to win a prize. Also, take a virtual tour of the exhibit of “Female Creativity in Art” in celebration of Women’s History Month. allentownartmuseum.org
Michener Art Museum offers interaction with the collection on Google Arts and Culture and on the newly refreshed Bucks County Artists Database. Explore works from the permanent collection, view galleries, and learn about the artists that comprise the collection. To access these resources, visit michenerartmuseum.org/visit/experience-the-michener-online/
New Hope Arts offers a virtual exhibition series with new images shared by members and artists every five days. newhopearts.org/
The Muhlenberg Community Dance Center is offering free virtual dance classes for young movers, every weekday. Class times are 11 a.m. for ages 9 and under, and 3 p.m. for ages 10 and up. For schedule and information on how to log on visit facebook.com/events/164087891304961/
The Allentown Band offers opportunities to listen to several recordings from the “Our Band Heritage” collection, featuring selections originally programmed for the canceled March 15 at Star of Bethlehem Lutheran Church concert. allentownband.com/
Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites online programs and offerings include free Sundays at Home E-blast, activities, crafts and videos to children. HBMS Art at Home introduces more than 600 works of art from local artists into homes across the region and country. Images will be posted in a slideshow with information on the artist who submitted the photo. Bag Lunch with Ilene Wood offered noon Monday-Friday, invites viewers into the home of collector and handbag historian Ilene Woods, for a show and tell of handbags from her collection that are not currently on show to the public in the PURSEonality: A Stylish Handbag History Exhibition.” A daily photo that takes a look back at Bethlehem throughout history will be posted on Facebook each day. Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites Blog, updated biweekly, highlights interviews with HBMS artists and collaborators, and other interesting subjects. historicbethlehem.org
Bethlehem Area Public Library virtual events include author Joyce Hinnefeld reading from her latest book “The Beauty of Their Youth,” 7:30 p.m. April 9 and executive director of the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, activist and editor Adrian Shanker will discuss “Bodies and Barriers Queer Activist on Health with BAPL executive director Josh Berk–online, followed by a live Q&A. https://www.facebook.com/pg/paBAPL/events/
The Lehigh Valley Zoo is offering live-streams, animal feedings and features and more. facebook.com/LVZoo/
The Banana Factory is offering online tours of the exhibits “Peter Keady: SmokeEaters,” “Encore: Small Works Exhibition & Sale” and “Compendium Chromas-Color Through the Decade.” https://www.bananafactory.org
The Baum School of Art offers a virtual platform for the Children and Teen Student Exhibition. Explore the creative achievements of artists ages 5-17, including painting, drawing, ceramics, graphic design, sculpture, and fashion. baumschool.org/exhibitions/children-and-teen-student-exhibition
Book & Puppet Co. Easton offers story hours 10:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, Comedy Improv Puppet Shows for Kids, 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays and Comedy Improv Puppet Shows for Grownups, 8 p.m. Saturday streaming live on Facebook. facebook.com/bookandpuppet
The National Museum of Industrial History is offering online lectures and presentations streamed through Facebook Live, featuring staff from Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, rare looks inside Martin Tower prior to its implosion from NMIH’s staff photographer, and a look at how the 1918 influenza pandemic affected Bethlehem Steel and industrial manufacturing. Also, a daily online “industrial storytime,” featuring award-winning and New York Times bestselling children’s books focused on industry and architecture. facebook.com/NMIHorg/
ArtsQuest is offering ArtsQuest@Home featuring a variety of curated and original content aggregated by ArtsQuest to offer engaging, entertaining and educational music and art-related content via diverse digital platforms. Live concerts by Musikfest and SteelStacks performers streamed from the artists’ homes and studios, movie talks with the staff of the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas, live-streamed ArtsQuest Toddler Storytimes and “Improvised Standup” comedy programming are among the highlights. Programming is free, some programs require advance registration. Visit artsquest.org/athome for dates, times and sign-ups.
A highlighted event for kids is Virtual Kids Party with YoYo, 11 a.m. April 12. Wear a costume or get dressed up in something fun (optional!) for fun exercises, balancing into yoga poses, and practicing power poses/ affirmations and attitude of gratitude.
The new “SteelStacks Lunch Break” mini-concert series offers concerts at noon featuring local and regional artists offering mini-sets streamed live via the SteelStacks Facebook page. Performances include Mosey Beat, April 9; Jon Fadem, April 10; Jon Braun of Start Making Sense, April 13; Jon Worthy, April 15 and Jenny Founds, April 17. https://www.facebook.com/SteelStacks
Crayola Experience and Crayola are providing fun, at-home activities through their websites and social channels. Parents can download free step-by-step crafting instructions, coloring pages, games, apps, and colorful science experiments using household items. They also can watch “Create-It-Yourself” videos, and learn tips and tricks to get creative with things around the house. Activities, live events, and video premiers will be posted on the Facebook channels and new activities will be added to the websites.
Websites:
CrayolaExperience.com/Creativity-at-Home
Facebook:
facebook.com/crayolaexperience/
Touchstone Theatre presents the Young Playwrights’ Festival online 7 p.m. May 9. Streaming concert readings of festival finalists will be shown on YouTube Live. A link to the livestream will be posted on Touchstone’s website and social media by noon, day of the event. Selections of scripts featuring 2019-2020 semi-finalists (and artwork created by Touchstone company members inspired by those scripts) will be offered online prior to the virtual festival. http://www.touchstone.org/
