MUSIC : Hey, Mom, I’m Singing

One of the nicer rites of spring in Orange County is the Pacific Chorale High School Choral Festival.

About 1,000 Orange County high school students get a chance to sing in Segerstrom Hall during this free event. The sixth edition takes place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

The idea is to give students “an opportunity they would not have in any other way, which is to perform at the Center just as professional groups do,” says Richard Messenger, assistant conductor of the Chorale and coordinator of the festivities.

A secondary purpose is “to encourage a lifelong interest in singing,” he says.

And if, by the way, they become acquainted with the Pacific Chorale, well, that’s nice too.

All the high schools in Orange County are invited to participate, and the day is structured “to accommodate as many” as show an interest, according to Messenger.

This year there will be 15 participating schools: Esperanza, Costa Mesa, Foothill, El Modena, San Clemente, Mater Dei, Orange, Diamond Bar and Mountain View from Vancouver, Wash., all in the morning; Valley, Bolsa Grande, Dana Hills, Fountain Valley, Villa Park, Irvine and the Orange County Youth Choir in the afternoon.

The Vancouver group has been touring in the area and so was invited to attend, Messenger says.

Each chorale will sing for about 10 minutes. Repertory will range from “sacred classics from all centuries through contemporary pieces of music,” Messenger says.

In past festivals, the Pacific Chorale invited some of the singers to join with it in an evening concert. But this Saturday, the Orange County Philharmonic Society had already booked the hall for a program by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. “So we’re bringing the chorale to them, at about 11:45 a.m.,” Messenger says. The chorale will sing excerpts from its recent a cappella concert.

Over the course of the six years, Messenger has noted a steady rise in overall quality as groups get to hear “very strong performances on the part of other schools.

“Now, the tradition is such--and the reputation of the event is such--that there are many schools that are all in the same high quality group,” he says.

Awards will be given in three areas: Performers’ Choice, with all the singers judging the performance that “best communicates the spirit of the music”; Directors’ Choice, and Adjudicators’ Choice.

The three adjudicators are John Alexander, music director of the Pacific Chorale; Gregory Lyne, choral director at Cal State Long Beach, and David Saladino, choral director at Cal State Fullerton.

Messenger also is choir director at Irvine High School, and to avoid any charges of conflicts of interest, he did not enter his own choir in the first two festivals. “But in the third year,” he says, “I talked with a lot of my colleagues, and they felt there was no conflict at all. So we’ve been a part of it ever since.”

The festival costs the chorale more than $7,500, what with a core of paid singers, adjudicators’ costs and other fees, according to chorale executive director Bonnie McClain.

Says Messenger: “But it’s been a part of the budget since we first did it. It was, in fact, our first commitment to education. We now have three other programs. But this is the backbone of our education program.”

The other educational efforts include a scholarship program, an on-site program that takes singers into local schools and the formation of the Pacific Chorale Children’s Chorus.

Fortunately, the chorale does not have to pay for the use of the Performing Arts Center for the day because the Philharmonic Society is making it available for free.

“That’s an example of real nice cooperation,” Messenger says.

In the future, the Pacific Chorale would like to expand the festival to a two-day event and include workshops at a second site and to recruit members of Opera Pacific, Ballet Pacific and the Pacific Symphony as workshop leaders.

But where will the money come from to pay for these visionary dreams?

“We hope to have a lot of cooperation from those groups,” Messenger says.

What: Pacific Chorale Sixth Annual High School Choral Festival.

When: Saturday, May 2, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.

Whereabouts: San Diego (405) Freeway to Bristol Street exit. North to Town Center Drive. (Center is one block east of South Coast Plaza.)

Wherewithal: Admission is free.

Where to Call: (714) 252-1234.