Nearly 800 Students to Attend Moon Festival Education Concert at UCPAC on October 15
Wharton Arts and Union County Performing Arts Center partner for free symphonic celebration of the moon.
Wharton Arts, in partnership with the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC), will welcome nearly 800 elementary and middle school students to a free Moon Festival Education Concert on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at UCPAC’s Main Stage in Rahway.
Presented beneath the stunning Museum of the Moon installation, the event will feature a full symphony orchestra performing an imaginative program inspired by the moon’s beauty, mystery, and mythology. Students from Union, Essex, Bergen, and Passaic counties will explore the world of orchestral music through pieces such as Debussy’s Clair de Lune, Holst’s Mars and Jupiter, Yukinori Nishimura’s Sweet New Moon, and John Williams’s Star Wars Medley.
“The Lunar Rising Education Concert invites young audiences to explore big ideas through music, sparking curiosity, imagination, and a sense of wonder about the universe we share,” said Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Helen Cha-Pyo. “Performed by youth musicians under the glow of the Moon exhibit, the concert blends the beauty of orchestral music with the mystery of the cosmos.”
The program is designed to introduce students to the families of the orchestra and engage them in a musical journey that connects art, science, and storytelling.
Wharton Arts’ mission is to provide accessible, high-quality performing arts education that fosters personal growth and builds inclusive communities. As New Jersey’s largest independent nonprofit performing arts education center, Wharton Arts serves nearly 2,000 students across 12 counties through the New Jersey Youth Symphony, New Jersey Youth Chorus, Paterson Music Project, and the Wharton Performing Arts School.
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