All-district choir performs with American Young Voices concert

WEST MILFORD — The West Milford Elementary All District Choir performed at the Prudential Center for the American Young Voices concert.
The Young Voices program has been going on in the United Kingdom for over 20 years and has recently come to the United States. They pride themselves on being the largest school choir concerts in the world with students in grades two through eight participating.
Music teachers Jordan Barry, Darla VanSickle and Jonathan Russo took fifth and sixth graders from each of the six elementary schools in the district to the concert on June 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark.
They were given the music when they signed up for the event and had to prepare all pieces and parts since they wouldn't know what we would sing until we got there.
Due to the magnitude of the event and working their own programs, they left the majority of the learning to the students. The teachers chose to program several of the songs from American Young Voices into their individual concerts but not all of them. According to the teachers, they met once a week before the event to sing through everything and they sounded amazing!
The concert was bigger and better than they could have ever expected.
"Between the lights, the band, the 8,000 students all singing together, our students and staff truly felt like rock stars," said Barry. "Looking over and seeing their smiling faces made all of the planning well worth it."
Once they were finished, one student turned to Barry and said "I want to do it again!"