The Lancaster Art Song Society (LASS) will present a concert with the theme "Reflections of Love" at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 5, at The Trust Performing Arts Center, 37 N. Market St., Lancaster. With a mission to provide vocal training to developing vocalists while also offering performance opportunities for classically trained professional artists, LASS presents concerts for audiences of all ages.

Featured at the concert will be the LASS chamber singers, Laus Deo, which means "Praise be to God" and encapsulates the choir's purpose of giving honor and praise. Several duets and solos will also be part of the event.

Laus Deo members are part of the developing vocalist program of LASS. They receive intense vocal training and have opportunities to attend concerts and vocal workshops, as well as observe professional guest vocalists. The choir performs at retirement communities, churches, and other venues, as well as for people who are homebound or receiving hospital or hospice care.

Since 2023, LASS has performed and sponsored classical singers at The Trust while promoting this art form by seeking to grow audiences for classical singing recitals and concerts locally. Simultaneously, young members of Laus Deo are trained and provided scholarships. LASS is solely funded by donations and pay-what-you-will musical events.

LASS is led by director Heidi Shannon and assistant director Johanna Howarth. Shannon has taught music to students from kindergarten through college for over 20 years. Her education ranges from classical voice to world music, movement, and drumming. She earned a bachelor's degree in music education - voice from Bob Jones University and a Master of Music from West Chester University. She holds Orff Schulwerk Certifications for Levels I to III, as well as the Master Level. In 2009, she became the first recipient of Music For Everyone's Music Teacher of the Year distinction. Shannon has performed with Opera Lancaster and directed its first two tours of opera tales, presenting a children's opera to over 1,000 school-age children.

Howarth is a native of Lancaster County and holds a bachelor's degree in biblical studies and a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from Lancaster Bible College (LBC). She has been an accompanist for LBC, Opera Lancaster, and Prima Theatre, and she has performed in musicals, concerts, and other events. Howarth has taught elementary music in school settings, including at a private school and Scaling Walls a Note at a Time (SWAN), a Lancaster-based music and support group for children affected by parental incarceration, as well as maintaining her own private piano studio.

Admission is pay-what-you-will, and seats may be reserved at http://www.lbc.edu/events or http://www.lancastertrust.com.