The Lookout Performing Arts Company

10/14/2026

🎶 A little sneak peek of something beautiful! 🎶

Our The Lookout Youth Choir has been hard at work preparing for this Sunday's concert, and we couldn't be prouder of these wonderful young voices!

There's something truly special about hearing children come together in song, and we can't wait to share what they've been learning with our community. ❤️

We hope you'll join us for a beautiful evening of music and worship as we celebrate these talented kids and all their hard work!

🎵 Lookout Youth Choir Concert

📅 Sunday, October 18

🕔 5:00 PM

📍 St. Joseph's on the Mountain Episcopal Church
Mentone, Alabama

Admission is free, and a love offering will be welcomed.

Come support these young singers and enjoy an evening of music in the mountains. We'd love to see you there!

❤️ Please share and help us spread the word!

09/29/2026

Help Us Keep the Arts Within Reach

Dear Friends,

For many families in Mentone, Fort Payne, and throughout DeKalb County, the rising cost of everyday life has made things like music lessons and instruments increasingly difficult to afford.

At The Lookout Performing Arts Company, we currently have more than 20 children who need scholarship assistance for private lessons in voice, piano, guitar, and percussion.

We believe a family’s financial circumstances should never be the reason a child has to stop singing, stop playing, or never have the opportunity to begin.

And we have seen firsthand what your generosity can do.
Last year, donations allowed us not only to provide scholarship lessons, but also to place instruments into the hands and homes of several children who otherwise would not have had them.
This year, the need has grown.

A $500 gift can provide a child with a starter instrument plus ten 30-minute private lessons or five 60-minute lessons.

A $200 gift can sponsor a child in the Lookout Youth Choir for an entire academic year. We currently have families for whom even the $100 semester tuition is simply out of reach.

And every gift matters.
You do not have to sponsor an entire child.

$50 helps. $100 helps. $200 gives a child a year of choir. $500 can put an instrument in a child’s hands and begin their private instruction.

Most importantly, 100% of every dollar donated to this scholarship effort goes directly to the children — toward their lessons and instruments. Nothing is taken for administrative costs or unrelated operating expenses unless a donor specifically designate their gift towards those purposes.

If you gave last year, thank you.
Your generosity made a real difference.
We hope you will consider giving again this year — and, if you are able, perhaps increasing your gift as the number of children needing help has grown.

Because sometimes a gift as simple as a music lesson becomes the place where a child discovers confidence, discipline, creativity — and a gift they will carry for the rest of their life.

Help us give them the chance to begin.

Checks may be made payable to LPAC and mailed to:

LPAC
P.O. Box 127
Mentone, AL 35984

You may also give through Venmo using the QR code on our donation flyer.

For more information or to discuss other ways to partner with LPAC, call or text 210-551-4817.

Thank you for helping us keep the arts alive in the hearts and hands of children in our community.

The Lookout Performing Arts Company

09/23/2026

🍂 LOOKOUT YOUTH CHOIR FALL CONCERT 🍂

Here’s a little sneak peek of what our kids have been working on! 🎶❤️

Join us Sunday, October 18 at 5:00 PM at St. Joseph’s on the Mountain Episcopal Church in Mentone for a beautiful afternoon of praise and worship, beloved hymns, and Christian music presented by the The Lookout Youth Choir

These young singers have been working hard, and we can’t wait to share this special program with our community.

All are welcome! Bring your family, bring a friend, and come spend the afternoon worshiping with us on the mountain.

📅 Sunday, October 18, 2026
🕔 5:00 PM
📍 St. Joseph’s on the Mountain Episcopal Church
Mentone, Alabama

🎶 Admission is free and everyone is invited.

Enjoy this little preview… and we hope to see you October 18! ❤️

09/15/2026

Spot on!!!!

It’s exactly why I stopped pursuing full-time opera — the constant singing, traveling, chasing opportunities, and trying to fit into a system that had become so far removed from the art itself. And, honestly, I became unwilling to pursue that life at the expense of being away from my family.

I realized I didn’t want a career that required me to constantly leave the people and the community I love in order to make the art I love.

So instead, I decided to start here, on Lookout Mountain, and build something from the ground up with The Lookout Performing Arts Company.

My focus now is on doing things the old-fashioned way: putting on quality art wherever we can, working with singers and artists who are being trained from the ground up, and creating opportunities that are funded not through a giant nonprofit machine, but through a genuine community of people who believe in giving and believe in the importance of the art.

It isn’t easy. It’s grueling work. It’s a tough sell.
But there’s an incredible amount of artistic integrity in it. We can cut through so much of the administrative machinery and put the resources back where they belong — into the art and into the artists’ pockets.

We’re not talking about tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions of dollars. We’re talking about something much more honest: a community of people who are excited about preserving an art form and who are willing to support it simply because they love it.

And maybe that’s the future — not bigger institutions, bigger budgets, press releases, prestige, or bragging rights. Maybe it’s smaller, deeply rooted communities creating extraordinary art because they believe it matters.

That’s what I want to build here on Lookout Mountain.

I don’t want to preserve opera by sacrificing the very things that make life meaningful. I want to preserve it while living a meaningful life — with my family, in my community, and surrounded by people who believe that art is worth doing simply because it matters.

The art form deserves to be preserved. The artists deserve to be supported. And perhaps the collapse of some of these old institutions gives us the opportunity to rebuild in a completely different way — one that is more honest, more personal, more community-driven, and ultimately more devoted to the art itself!

https://operawire.com/editorial-why-im-retiring-from-staged-opera-at-43/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAdGRleAUVfTFwZG9mAmZkaWQWUOfQkohpBygAW19dM7sJE3vg-XFa82V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzEyNDAyNDU3NDI4NzQxNAABp9weXTX2SlKaLbGQDnNO7mPwkWx6F7sa9V5MU581OwKp6bVhbauBcdQYz4M4_aem_gNGcbr7qD-aO28V1RIMIGg

I am 43-years-old.

08/17/2026

Looking forward to starting our 2026/27 youth choir season.
We are on for our first rehearsal today at 1 PM at St Joe’s on the Mountain.
Please park in the parking lot that is on Scenic 89 and come in the side entrance also facing 89 and turn left into the sanctuary where we will be having our rehearsal today.

Tomorrow night is our second rehearsal and it will be from 6 PM to 7 PM. Same instructions for parking and entrance.
See y’all soon.

08/13/2026

The Lookout Youth Choir is BACK!!!!!

We are so excited to welcome our choir members back for our 2nd season of music, friendship, and community!
Rehearsals begin Monday, August 17, 2026 at St. Joseph's on-the-Mountain Episcopal Church in Mentone.

🎵 Monday rehearsals: 1:00–2:00 PM
🎵 Tuesday rehearsals: 6:00–7:00 PM

Choir members are welcome to attend both rehearsals each week, but attending both is not required. We want to provide families with flexibility while still creating a strong and rewarding musical experience.

🎤 New members are welcome!
The Lookout Youth Choir is open to children ages 7–18, and we would love to welcome new voices this season.
The cost for the semester is $100, with discounts available for multiple children from the same family. Scholarships are available because we never want finances to stand in the way of a child experiencing the joy and growth that comes through music education.

We have an exciting semester ahead! Plans are already underway for a fall concert, several Christmas performances, and we are thrilled to have been invited back to perform at the Annual Lighting of the Christmas Tree at Mentone Inn! 🎄✨

More than just a choir, The Lookout Youth Choir is a place where young people can build confidence, develop their musical gifts, make friendships, and find their community.

We can’t wait to sing together again.
See you soon! 🎶❤️

08/08/2026

🎶✨ The Lookout Youth Choir is back! ✨🎶

We are so excited to welcome our choir members back for our 2nd season of music, friendship, and community!

Rehearsals begin Monday, August 17, 2026 at St. Joseph’s on the Mountain in Mentone.

🎵 Monday rehearsals: 1:00–2:00 PM
🎵 Tuesday rehearsals: 6:00–7:00 PM

Choir members are welcome to attend both rehearsals each week, but attending both is not required. We want to provide families with flexibility while still creating a strong and rewarding musical experience.

🎤 New members are welcome!
The Lookout Youth Choir is open to children ages 7–18, and we would love to welcome new voices this season.

The cost for the semester is $100, with discounts available for multiple children from the same family. Scholarships are available because we never want finances to stand in the way of a child experiencing the joy and growth that comes through music education.

We have an exciting semester ahead! Plans are already underway for a fall concert, several Christmas performances, and we are thrilled to have been invited back to perform at the Annual Lighting of the Christmas Tree at Mentone Inn! 🎄✨

More than just a choir, The Lookout Youth Choir is a place where young people can build confidence, develop their musical gifts, make friendships, and find their community.

We can’t wait to sing together again. See you soon! 🎶❤️

08/07/2026

Meet Our Fearless Director – Lee Farrar Bailey

Every child deserves someone who believes in them before they believe in themselves.

That's the heart behind Lookout Performing Arts Company.

When Lee and I moved to Lookout Mountain, it wasn't just for a change of scenery. It was with a dream—to build a thriving performing arts community where children and adults alike could discover confidence, creativity, and belonging through music and theater. In many ways, it's also the continuation of a dream started by his late father, world-renowned dramatic tenor Dennis Bailey, who devoted his life to sharing the gift of music.

Lee has spent his entire life immersed in opera, musical theater, and ministry. He made his stage debut with the Seattle Opera at just 7 years old, and by 18 was performing with the New Orleans Opera. His career has taken him to stages across the country, including performances with professional opera companies, musical theater productions, symphony orchestras, and even Carnegie Hall. He has portrayed leading roles in productions such as La Bohème, Oklahoma!, Into the Woods, Camelot, Oliver!, Grease, Man of La Mancha, and many more.

He later trained with Metropolitan Opera principal coach Joshua Greene as a Wagnerian Heldentenor, continuing the musical legacy of his father. Beyond the stage, Lee is a published composer, singer-songwriter with five studio albums, and spent more than 17 years serving as a Minister of Music and Worship Leader.

But if you ask me, his greatest role isn't one he's ever performed on stage.

It's being the teacher who kneels beside a nervous eight-year-old before their first solo.

It's seeing potential where others see fear.

It's expecting excellence while making every child feel seen, valued, and capable.

This past week, nearly 70 young performers took the stage after just a few days together. They left with new skills, new friendships, and a confidence that will stay with many of them for years to come. That's the kind of impact Lee hopes to make—not just producing great performances, but helping shape young lives.

The children of our mountain community are incredibly fortunate to learn from someone whose professional career could have kept him on stages around the country, but who instead chose to invest his gifts right here at home.

We're just getting started, and I can't wait to see where this dream takes us.

❤️ Thank you, Lee, for believing that every child deserves a chance to shine.

(As someone who has had the privilege of walking beside Lee for many years—and yes, as his very proud wife—I can tell you that what you see on stage is exactly who he is off stage. The talent is remarkable, but his greatest gift has always been believing in people.)

🎥 credit: Kelly Daspit