‘We got picked’: Carson High School Honors Choir selected to sing with Foreigner

CHINA GROVE — For the second straight year, the Honors Choir at Jesse C. Carson High School in China Grove will be on the same stage as Foreigner.

Last year, the local group performed as opening entertainment for the iconic rock band’s concert. This year, they will actually be performing with the band during its historic farewell tour July 13 at PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte as they join in singing “I Want To Know What Love Is” at the conclusion of the concert.

Seeing that a contest was once again being hosted by a radio station, Megan Wyatt, the choir teacher, wanted to try again for the honor of her students being up on that stage.

Celia Sifford, a 2024 graduate and member of the choir, said that Wyatt “heard about it and she said, we’ve got to do this again. It was so fun, we’ve got to do it again.”

So the students, Wyatt said, used their creativity and set up the stage and made their own musical rendition of “I Want To Know What Love Is,” which was submitted and won.

They are very talented, she said. “I’m very proud of them. This sort of puts us on the map. It kind of says hey, Rowan County is producing some pretty amazing singers. And it helps our program.”

“This is the 17th year we’ve been having choirs sing with the band,” said John Lappen, Foreigner’s representative.

And, in addition to being selected to sing with the band, the choir is also the recipient of a $500 donation from Foreigner to go to its music program, something for which Wyatt said she was thankful.

Music education is important to Foreigner, as Lappen said that “it seems that when schools decide to cut budgets, they always start with the arts.

He continued by stressing the importance of an arts-related curriculum when he said, “we feel strongly that any arts-related curriculum is important to any student’s education as we believe exposure to the arts helps to make the students a more well-rounded person.”

Therefore, the band donates $500 to the chorus program of all of the choirs that sing with the band at its shows.

The students didn’t learn of their being selected until the last day of school, Sifford said, “and Wyatt was like ‘hey guys, we got picked.’”

When the students learned the news, they were elated, Wyat said.

“ I told them I could only take 25 and those slots filled up quickly,” she said. “They were surprised that someone outside of Rowan County had noticed their talent.”

Lucy Burks, also a recent graduate who participated last year in opening for the rock band, said, “we were so excited to be picked again because we had no idea it was going to happen again.”

The experience last year was incredible for all of them, Burks said, and “coming back this year with all of our friends, it’s going to be such an amazing opportunity. I love singing, and it’s just going to be such a fun experience.”

Owen Hurlocker, a 2024 graduate as well, is glad for the opportunity to come back and sing as he said the choir was a big part of his high school and would miss singing with Wyatt. “It’s awesome to get that chance again,” he said.

And then adding the fact that they would be on the stage with Foreigner, Hurlocker said to “actually get to sing with them, is incredible. (It’s) going to be an unforgettable experience.”

Making the experience on stage even more special for Hurlocker is how much of a fan his mom is of Foreigner, and the song they will be singing along with the band is her favorite rock song, he said.

And the families get to attend the concert with them, the students said, which in addition to Foreigner, will include performances by Styx and John Waite. The students will get to watch it all until it’s their time to go onstage, Wyatt said.

For Sifford, being selected to participate in the concert this year is extra special for her, she said because when they performed last year, “our concert was on the first day of school and so it was the first day of my senior year I got to perform and then this year, now that I’ve graduated, it’s like closing the chapter. I get to do it again,” she said.

It has a special meaning as well for Tyler Madden, a junior at Carson, as he said being selected “is great for me because I can go home and tell my family that I performed with Foreigner. I think that’s really special.”

Singing as the opening act last year and now singing with the band is “even cooler,” Sifford said, “because it’s just a step up from what we did before. It just shows that we keep progressing. And we’re gonna keep stepping up and doing well.”

Wyatt said that this would be her final performance with some of these students that have graduated and will be going off to college and so it would be bittersweet.

Burks will be heading off to East Carolina University, Hurlocker to Western Carolina University and Sifford to Appalachian State University and while they are not majoring in music, they have enjoyed their time in both choir and theater and will take those special memories with them and perhaps participate in music in some way, perhaps a choir or a class, they shared.

For Madden, he plans to continue in chorus and theater again next year, he said.

Plus, they will all take with them the memories of having been on stage with one of the top rock bands.

This is Foreigner’s farewell tour and one that is bittersweet for them, said Lappen. “They love performing the classic hits from Foreigner’s iconic catalog, and they love performing in front of their fans worldwide and they appreciate the fans’ support for all of these years, but they have also decided it’s time to take a rest from the years of lengthy touring they have done.”

At the end of this year, the band’s final year of touring, will mark a nearly 50-year career as one of classic rock’s most iconic bands. And in recognition of their career, they have been elected to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony is slated to take place on Oct. 19.

Singing in front of an audience and listening to the music is so much fun, said Burks.

“I’m just so excited that we can be there again,” she said.

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