Why are 150 fifth-graders from a four-county area coming to sing in Boswell?

BOSWELL ― Fifth-grade students from 25 regional school districts will perform a choral concert for the public at 7 p.m. Friday at North Star High School, 400 Ohio St.

A total of 150 students from elementary schools in Bedford, Blair, Cambria and Somerset counties are expected to participate, said Tricia Diamond, elementary music teacher and middle school chorus director for the North Star School District, which is hosting this year's event. Tickets to the concert will be sold at the door that evening.

Caring for roses: Here's how to help Remember Me Rose Garden get ready to bloom this season

"Song Fest is an annual choral festival hosted by the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA). It is only open to fifth-grade students, and all students (from the above four counties) are invited to participate," she said. "Students prepare music with their (home district's choral) directors before coming to rehearse with the students from other school districts."

Updating infrastructure: What improvements are underway in Boswell Borough? Here's what we learned.

What music will they perform?

Among the selections the students will perform are "All Things Bright and Beautiful," a classic vocal piece by John Ritter, "Shake the Papaya Down," a fun Jamaican folk song that challenges the students to sing in three parts; and "Kookaburra," a traditional children's song from Australia, Diamond said.

The choral students will rehearse together during the day Friday and perform that evening under the direction of Valerie Galczynski, the director of Inclined to Sing, the youth chorus of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra.

Celebrating small business: DCED Sec. Siger: Small businesses build towns, main street programs keep them going

According to her biography on the orchestra's website, "Valerie is an accomplished singer/soloist who performs with the Johnstown Symphony Chorus. She is also a cantor/soloist at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Carrolltown, and she has previously sung with The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. She has performed throughout the United States and Europe.

"As a music educator, Valerie has directed the choral program in grades 5-12, taught elementary general music, high school music electives and started an elementary music program. She has also served as an adjunct professor of music at Mount Aloysius College and St. Francis University."

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Students from four-county area sing at PMEA District 6 Song Fest