The Buck Hill Skytop Music Festival has tapped prominent Broadway conductor Joey Chancey to lead the festival’s highly anticipated sixth season, which will take place from July 31 to August 9 at venues throughout the Pocono Mountains region.
Chancey, a sought after music director, pianist and conductor, is currently playing piano and conducting for the Tony Award-winning Broadway show Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Chancey replaces Patrick Vaccariello, who will be supervising the Spring Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall and music directing the Tony Awards for the second year in a row. Vaccariello will remain on the festival’s artistic board.
To kick off the festival on Friday, July 31, Chancey will present a stunning musical theater production starring Broadway performers and the festival’s student artists. An exhilarating concert starring New York City’s most versatile pop singers will cap the event on Sunday, August 9. Chancey plans to introduce a festival orchestra this season to infuse the major productions with a robust sound and amp up the excitement.
In addition to Beautiful, Chancey conducted and played piano for the 2012 Broadway revival of Annie, and served as musical director for the National Tours of La Cage Aux Folles, A Chorus Line and The Wizard of Oz. In addition, he has played piano for The Wedding Singer, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and White Christmas tours.
Internationally, Chancey has conducted Direct From Broadway, a Symphonic Concert Tour of Australia featuring musical theater star Anthony Warlow and Tony Award-winner Faith Prince. The concert was accompanied by a thirty-two piece orchestra and played to sold out audiences across the country, including the Sydney Opera House. He has also conducted the International Company of A Chorus Line in Tokyo, Japan.
Some of Chancey’s favorite credits include conducting The Music Man in concert with some of Broadway’s biggest stars, including Laura Osnes, Santino Fontana, Ann Harada and Andrew Keenan-Bolger; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Fabulous Fox Theater in Atlanta; A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline starring Gail Bliss; and Smokey Joe’s Cafe at the Alhambra Theater. He has conducted and accompanied for TV stars Jane Lynch and George Hamilton and Broadway's Jessie Mueller, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Christopher Sieber. Chancey is a native of Jacksonville, Florida, and holds a Bachelors of Music in Piano from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. He currently resides in New York City.
The Buck Hill Skytop Music Festival will present world-class artists in the fields of jazz, musical theater, cabaret and chamber music. Events will take place at Skytop Lodge, Buck Hill Falls, Pocono Mountain East High School, Notre Dame High School, and East Stroudsburg University. Tickets will go on sale in April.
