New this year to the Palmerton Community Festival is Chart Toppers, from Off the Charts Music School on Delaware Avenue.

Chart Toppers will bring some of their vocal students to display their talents from 1-1:30 p.m. Sunday in the bandstand.

Resa Hall, a vocal instructor for Chart Toppers, said 10 vocal students will perform, adding that the Chart Toppers is a brainchild of Dustin Rehrig, who owns Off the Charts Music School.

“His idea as the music school moves along is to provide the students with the opportunity to perform, to sing together, to form a band if they want to,” Hall said. “His philosophy is each performance, he wants the kids to learn performance style from real performers, and eventually put them together in groups as the school moves through.”

Hall said “it’s a great environment,” as the Chart Toppers are current vocal students at Off the Charts Music School who range in age from 11 to 20 years old, and all but one are current or recently graduated students from the Palmerton Area School District.

They include Nina Mendes, Hannah Dorward, Hannah Citron, Josh Rehatchek, Nicole Kester, William Drake, Hannah Serfass, April Rehrig, Bailey Moyer and Autumn Heydt.

Hall said the students all have different styles, and work in different genres, although a lot of them want to work in musical theater. The repertoire for the festival will feature some current pop songs, a country song and several musical theater selections, she said.

Dustin’s love of everything music began early, as he started playing and performing on drums at the tender age of just 3 years old. Since then, he has continued to expand his musical experiences beyond performing and playing drums.

Dustin has worked in nearly every capacity of the music industry. Over the past 40 years, Dustin has performed as a professional drummer, an artist manager, a tour manager, an audio engineer, an artist agent, sound designer, lighting designer, production manager, has run his own highly successful artist management company, and that’s just a few of the skills Dustin has mastered.

Dustin has always wanted to open a music school where students would not only learn how to play their instrument, but also learn how to apply that knowledge.

At Off the Charts Music School, students are taught by working professional musicians who have not only mastered their respective instruments, they have vast experience performing on stage, touring, recording and making music as professional musicians.

Dustin leased the building in Palmerton two days before the country shut down due to COVID-19. During this time, he was furloughed at Penn’s Peak, where he is the full-time production manager, handling all the audio/lighting needs for visiting artists.

Without bands traveling, there wasn’t any work for his own bands, which left him jobless. His wife, daughter, father, stepmother and sometimes brother and wife along with other friends built this entire store, making his dream a reality.

Joining Dustin in this great adventure is his daughter, April Rehrig. April’s charm, intelligence, personality and many musical talents can light up any room. April is co-owner of Off the Charts Music School and runs the day-to-day operations.

April is also starting a special needs program at the school. At an early age, she developed a love for special needs children and wants to provide opportunities for everyone at the school.

Along with Dustin and Beth, April works at Penn’s Peak as a stage tech and monitor engineer. Look for more great things from April as she navigates her young life through her musical and business journeys.