The Tyrone Area High School POPS Extension show choir will present its annual Spring Concert at 2 pm on May 11, 2025, in the Tyrone High School Auditorium.
Long-time chorus teacher and POPS Director Laura Harris retired at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, so this will be new TAHS Chorus teacher and POPS Director Gabriella Petrarca’s first spring concert.
“I think that the fact that Tyrone has a show choir is quite a unique opportunity,” Petrarca said. “I personally do not know of any other schools that have an active show choir, especially not one that has the same long legacy that POPS has. This alone allows students to build skills in both singing and movement, but the overall takeaway from performing in a show choir is a sense of confidence.”
With the choir under a new director, the audience will have something new to look forward to this year. This is the first year in many that the students will do the dance choreography.
When Petrarca inherited the program, she was told that POPS’ prior choreographer would be stepping away to focus on other projects.
“I saw this as the perfect opportunity to pivot toward student choreographers because it perfectly aligned with my goals for the program and my values as an educator. I believe that students having greater ownership over their work is a very valuable thing. What started as a few dancers stepping up to lead choreography in the winter has led to a spring POPS repertoire that has a different choreographer, or co-choreographer, for every piece.”
Student choreography debuted during the winter concert. The change was well received by both the students and the audience.
The spring concert will also feature student choreography and bring back a POPS Extension favorite, male-only and female-only choreographed songs.
The choreographed musical numbers that POPS will perform on Sunday are “One Short Day from ‘Wicked’” by sophomores Peyton Levinson-Riggleman and Ella Narehood, “Another Day of Sun from ‘La La Land’” by juniors Lydia Meredith and Reilly Rawlings, “My Girl” by freshman Ryleigh Holmes, “Be My Baby” by juniors Paige Carper and Paige Hoy.
Student choreographer Lydia Meredith shared her interest in choreography and why she tried it for the spring.
“I think student choreography was a great addition and opportunity within POPS,” said Meredith, “My personal experience with it has been super good. I thought it was really fun being able to work with Reilly Rawlings to create something of my own and express it through music and dance in my own special way.”
This opens more opportunities for an adult-structured but student-run club.
“It has given the students the chance to have more creative freedom in the arts,” said student-choreographer Rosie McKernan.
