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Our Mission: BCPAI’S goals are to support the advanc
ement of the performing arts in our region by providing scholarships for exceptional students or those needing financial assistance in order to acquire professional training in music, or drama; to acquire and provide funding for culturally diverse community music, dance or drama programs that utilize the arts to improve the academic skills, social skills and emotional health of “children at risk” and to enrich the quality of life in the region.
BENEFITS TO THE COMMUNITY: The scope and range of BCPAI’s programs continues to expand. BCPA started with scholarships and VOICES of Bucks County. But as grants and donations from private and public sources increase, programs will be added that reach out to more people in the community – bringing the benefits of early childhood music programs to single mothers and children ‘at risk’, drama and drama therapy programs for area youths, and partnership programs with other non-profit organizations to ‘uplift’ the lives of more people through performing arts initiatives.
HOW YOU CAN BENEFIT: Your (or your child) may be in need of scholarship assistance to fully develop their budding talent. As we grow, we’ we’ll be better able to provide that assistance. You may know of a situation where a performing arts program would develop the teamwork, poise and self-esteem needed to break the cycle of ‘ failure’ behavior for area youths.
INITIAL PROJECTS:
In it’s first year, BCPA awarded six music scholarships and it subsidized the Bucks County Choir. (now known as VOICES of Bucks County). In September 2001, we ran a choir workshop conducted by American conductor/composer Moses Hogan of New Orleans followed by a concert at Oxford Valley Mall that included survivors of 911 in the choir and the audience of listeners, then a holiday concert and a spring Scholarship Concert featuring students of the Hellyer Performing Arts Center, and the ‘ 01 & ‘ 02 scholarship winners.
Each year since 2001, we have awarded from 2- 8 Merit Scholarships – which have included a few College awards from $250 – $1000 for graduating seniors entering a performing arts program in college.
The scope of the performance opportunities for ‘VOICES’ has expanded to include Musical drama productions of “Mrs. Fezziwig’s Feast (an adaptation of Christmas Carol), “Henry’s Holiday Feast” (Henry VIII and all 6 wives) and other original music dramas and revues plus classical concerts with orchestra partnering with other choral groups such as Northeast Oratorio Society and the Bensalem Presbyterian Church Choir to present Handel’s ‘Messiah’, Bach’s B Minor Mass, the Faure Requiem, The Mozart Requiem, Bach’s Cantata #4, Schubert’s Mass in G and more.
From VOICES of Bucks County has come VOICES jr, a community after-school music program that provides musical fun, education and performance experience for children ages 8 –14.
“Acting Out” is BCPAI’s drama after-school program that guides children 8-14 through the process of creating, writing and producing their own plays and thereby improving their reading and writing skills as well as social development.
BCPAI has provided music classes for other community groups serving ‘children at risk’ such as the YMCA, the YWCA and Ivins Outreach Center in Morrisville.
Additionally funds were set aside to begin the Hollenbach Hellyer Endowment Fund, which will help us establish and maintain funding for scholarship awards in years to come.
Our goal each year is to increase the number and dollar amount of scholarships and further develop programs to bring the performing arts to more children in Bucks County.
Founding Board Members: BCPAI was established April of 2001, It’s founder is professional singer and voice teacher, Wendy Hellyer, (also owner of the Hellyer Performing Arts Center, Inc.)
The Founding Board is comprised of:
- Wendy Hellyer, President
- Robert T. Kennedy, Manager – Employee Relations of US Steel’s Fairless Works
- Doug Sce’, Partner, The M & D Group
- Catherine G. Hollenbach, Singer & Co-Founder of Bucks County Sound Labs
- Anne Leibowitz, Flutist, and teacher of special education in Bensalem Schools.
The Current Board includes:
- Wendy Hollenbach Hellyer, President of BCPAI and the Hellyer Performing Arts Center
- Anne Leibowitz, as Secretary of BCPAI, Flutist and Special Education Teacher at Bensalem Schools
- Dan Bates, BCPAI Chairman of the Board, Owner of Business & Marketing Alliance and President of the Lower Bucks County Chamber of Commerce
- Sonya Robinson, Hale-Smith Inc.
- Kelley Zimmerman, Director of Recruiting, Axion LLC and AccounTeam.
The Advisory Board
- Dr. Joseph Ruggiero, Founder of Self-Help Movement, Inc.
- George Haggerty, V. P. Nathan’s Hot Dogs, retired
- Gene DiGirolamo, State Representative
