Pearl River Community College will be hosting a variety of local choral groups at their annual Fall Choral Festival next week.
The event, sponsored by the Department of Fine Arts and Communication, will feature seven schools, including Poplarville, Picayune Memorial and Pearl River Central high schools, along with the PRCC mens and womens choirs, conducted by PRCC’s director of choral groups LaDona Tyson.
“We are very excited to be a part of the fall showcase this year. I want my students to have every opportunity to grow as musicians. It is an honor to be invited to take part in any choral activity or festival offered at PRCC,” Haley Jones, first year choral director at PRC, said.
The festival presents a unique opportunity for students to join “together with other local schools and becoming one in the choral world,” Jones said.
“It’s nice to get together with the other high schools in non-competition setting,” Poplarville Choir Director Andrea Will said.
Each group will perform their own piece before joining with the other students to perform one song together, Tyson said in a previous interview.
Previous festival performances have included over 300 voices, she said.
This year’s festival will feature a rendition of “I Sing Because I’m Happy,” Jones said.
“It’s a good experience, especially for my younger kids who have never seen or heard other kids perform…there’s no other place to do that,” Will said. The students “enjoy making connections with other choirs.”
The Poplarville girls choir will perform an old blues piece called “Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie” written by Huddie Ledbetter, Will said.
The PRC choir will sing “Glow” by Eric Whitacre, Jones said.
Forrest County Agricultural, Sumrall and Oak Grove high schools as well as Petal Middle School will also be performing Thursday night.
The festival will begin at 7 p.m. on Nov. 3 at the Brownstone Center for the Arts and is free to attend.