Nine members of the Tyrone High School Chorus will perform at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 6 Chorus Festival at Portage Area High School this week.

The nine students are seniors Molly Harris, Tyler Eaken, Matt Beam, junior Ethan Walk, sophomores Alexis Umholtz, Lindsay Walk, Tyler Beckwith, Nick Vasbinder, and Brent McNeel. These students auditioned and qualified for district chorus in October.

“They’ve all been working very hard on a rather difficult folder of music and I see great progress with all of them from week to week,” said Tyrone choral director Laura Harris.

They will be joined by over 180 other students from 39 schools in Cambria, Blair, Bedford, and Somerset counties.

“I am most excited to meet new people and work with great people on songs that we have been working so hard on,” said Walk.

The students have a challenging piece to audition with, and it coordinates with their voice part. All participants are judged in the following categories: pitch, vocal tone, rhythm, intonation, technique, and musicianship.

Following the auditions, they will perform a concert on Saturday, January 27, at 11 am at the Portage Area High School auditorium.   Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students.

This year the chorus is under the direction of Ms. Rachel Cornacchio from Messiah University.

“I have been working on my music every day at home, and have been going through each song over and over again,” said Umholtz.

At districts, students will also audition for regionals.  Those who place in the top 12 they will continue on to the regional concert to be held March 2, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. at Penn Cambria High School in Cresson.

“I’m very proud of this group of singers for all of the extra time and effort that they’ve put into preparing for this festival as well as their auditions for Regional Chorus,” said Harris.