Renowned violinist Lindsay Deutsch performs with the Lehigh Valley's Young People's Philharmonic (YPP) at 4 p.m. Dec. 21, Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown.

Deutsch and the YPP will perform works by Mozart, Respighi, Dvorak, Copland and more.

Deutsch has performed throughout the United States with such prestigious symphonies as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the Fort Worth Symphony.

YPP, along with just four other youth orchestras nationwide, was selected as a winner of the Classics Alive Youth Orchestra Residency Program, co-founded by Deutsch. The program brought Deutsch to Allentown to perform with the YPP at local schools.

Upon completion of the school tours, YPP asked Deutsch to come back and perform at the holiday concert. She gladly accepted the invitation.

"We are really excited to have her perform with us," says Molly Bidlack, Interim President of the Board of Directors for the YPP. "YPP is doing some great things this year."

Molly Bidlack is the daughter of Jerry T. Bidlack, Music Director and Conductor of the YPP, and the late Nancy Bidlack. Molly Bidlack played with the YPP for eight years.

The YPP was founded in 1976 by Jerry T. and Nancy Bidlack, and is composed of two orchestras: a symphonic orchestra 85 high school students and a string orchestra of 45 middle school students. The young musicians are from Lehigh, Northampton, Monroe, Carbon, Bucks and Berks counties and western New Jersey.

Auditions are held in May for the following school year. The students rehearse for two and one-half hours weekly at First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem. The mission of the YPP is to provide music education for Lehigh Valley youth.

"The YPP is made up of both a Junior [5th through 9th grade] and a Senior Orchestra [10th through 12th grade]. Lindsey will be playing with both the Juniors and Seniors at the Holiday Concert."

Molly Bidlack believes that music education is incredibly important:

"Studies are showing that engaging in playing a musical instrument is great for development. But we have always known that because it's been such a great experience to be a part of this.

"The kids in the program really like it. It gives them the chance to meet other kids who have the same interest in classical music that they do. It creates lifelong friendships between many of them."

Tickets: Miller Symphony Hall Box Office, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown; allentownsymphony.org; 610-432-6715; Young People's Philharmonic: 610-868-9888, 610-868-9200