Cincinnati students become 'juke box heroes,' prepare to sing with Foreigner

A group of Cincinnati high school students "want to know what love is" — so much so, they've been singing for days, waiting for someone to show them.

Now, they won't have to wait much longer.

On Friday, one of classic rock's best-selling bands will the help the teens find it in a once-in-a-lifetime performance.

"It's a wonderful collaboration and a great opportunity for the kids," said Ken Holdt, choral director at Sycamore High School.

Styx and Foreigner are performing at Riverbend Music Center on Friday for the bands' joint 2024 tour stop in Cincinnati. Foreigner will take the stage second, and they'll share the stage with Sycamore's Aves Choir singing the band's No. 1 hit "I Want to Know What Love Is" to close the night out.

This will be the choir program's third time partnering with Foreigner, having first performed with the band in 2013, then again in 2017. For this class of students however, it won't just feel like the first time — it will be their first and only time.

"It's super exciting. It's such a big audience and it's bigger than most of our performances that we've ever had," said Hannah Alex, a senior choir member. "Our choir also performs at the [Cincinnati Pops Orchestra] but this is like a completely different setting so we've never really done it in a concert-style setting."

Inviting student choirs on stage is a tradition for Foreigner. The band partners with The Grammy Foundation to give school music programs across North America the opportunity.

Foreigner donated $500 to Sycamore's choral program. On the night of the performance, local Shriners will sell Foreigner's greatest hits CDs and donate all the funds back to the Grammy Foundation.

"A little but nervous, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun. We're going to vlog it and we're going to have a lot of fun," said Lucas Calabrese, another senior choir member.

While Calabrese has future musical aspirations, his fellow senior choir member Alex does not. Despite their different professional interests, both say their choral tenure has and will continue to benefit their adult lives.

"It's so much fun and it's so good at building your confidence," Alex said. "I will likely be presenting a lot of research and for that there is a lot of public speaking involved and being able to present and dictate your ideas in a clear and respectable manner so singing really helped with my public speaking."

Holdt said he knows Friday's performance will leave a lasting impact, but he stresses the importance of the choral program as a whole.

"Speaking to how we can serve the world through music," he said. "The fans are going to see — oh there's a choir, there's kids, you love to see it — but it's a thread within our program that we talk about. The more people we can serve through whatever it is, the better humanity is. We as people are better."

You can donate to Sycamore's choral program or support them through their Youtube channel . The Aves Choir is expected to take the stage at around 10:30 p.m. Friday.

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