Choirs revel in winter informal

Choir students at Glendale High traded their formal wear for jeans and sang popular music instead of more traditional choir fare Thursday morning at their 32nd annual Unconcert — a performance designed to be an atypical choir concert.

Fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students from the seven elementary schools that feed into Glendale High were invited to watch a special performance of this year’s Unconcert on Thursday morning before the students’ planned debut of the show later that evening and tonight.

The Unconcert is the favorite performance of the year for choir students at Glendale High, said Grace Sheldon-Williams, the school’s vocal music and handbell director.

“Everybody loves popular music,” Sheldon-Williams said.

Students from five of the feeder elementary schools attended, and they nearly filled the 1,500-person auditorium at the high school. They watched various choirs sing oldies as well as more current songs while wearing jeans and matching T-shirts with “You Can’t Stop the Beat” written on them.

The show opened with the a cappella choir singing and dancing to the 1960s song, “Do You Love Me,” by the Contours, while members of the concert glee choir twisted and did Mashed Potatoes in the aisles. The chamber choir performed several selections by Queen, singing and dancing to “We Will Rock You” in a choreographed number on stage. And the handbell choir performed a song from the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

The choirs will do two evening performances of the Unconcert this week for the wider community. But the choirs also preview the show for elementary students to demonstrate how much fun choir can be, Sheldon-Williams said.

“The idea is some of the kids will be inspired to do music when they get to high school,” she said.

Sheldon-Williams selected the music for the large group songs, but the high school students also provide some artistic direction for this particular concert. The students act as judges when soloists audition to sing in Unconcert, and the soloists choose what they will sing and recruit instrumentalists to accompany them, Sheldon-Williams said.

“They do a lot,” she said.

Andrew Critikidis, who sang in a five-person a cappella group called JMACKs, said it was fun to perform for such an enthusiastic audience.

“My niece was in the crowd and she yelled out my name,” said Andrew, 15.

Lili Koehler, a 10-year-old who goes to R.D. White, was impressed with Justin Hemaidan and Diana Rodriguez’s rendition of “Hate That I Love You,” by Rihanna.

“I think they sang it very well,” Lili said.

Alyssa Verdugo, 11, who goes to Cerritos Elementary School, was amazed by the talent on display. “The duets — they hit their notes very well,” she said.

 ANGELA HOKANSON covers education. She may be reached at (818) 637-3238 or by e-mail at angela.hokanson@latimes.com.