Choirs to perform ‘style’ Pops concert
Students perform at the Palo Alto High School Pops concert in 2019 with the theme of ‘2000s party in the PAC.’ According to Choir junior Kyle Lehman, the Pops concert gives singers the freedom to sing songs they choose. “The Pops concert is unique because every student can do a solo song duet or a group song if they want to, and so we have a lot of people who are doing songs by themselves,” Lehman said. (Photo: Soumya Jhaveri)
February 9, 2023
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed Sofia Vincent as Sophia Vincent. This has since been corrected.
Featuring singers in self-made outfits, the Palo Alto High School choirs will perform the annual Pops concert to the theme of ‘style’ on Thursday and Friday in the Performing Arts Center.
According to Choir President Kyle Xu, the Pops concert gives students the opportunity to choose which songs to perform. In addition to traditional ensemble-wide performances, the Pops concert will feature songs by soloists and a capella groups.
“We always choose our own songs for [the] Pops concert, as long as it fits the theme,” Xu said. “This time around, people are singing ‘Versace on the Floor’ [and] ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ — they all pertain to the theme of that style.”
According to choir junior Kyle Lehman, students designed their own outfits, with each student given the same shirt to customize to their liking.
“We decided to go with white shirts and all of the students got to use paints and fabric markers to design the shirt how they wanted to,” Lehman said.
Choir bookkeeper Sofia Vincent said the personalized outfits will help bring out each singer’s skills and elevate the performance.
“It lets people stand out more as individuals, and you’re always going to perform better if you care about what you’re doing,” Vincent said. “If you’re performing a song that you really like, you’re going to sing better. You want to be more interesting as a performer to watch.”
Students had the freedom to select their own songs, which allowed them to improve as performers, according to Vincent.
“We try to pick stuff that kind of forces people to challenge themselves when they’re singing, and maybe look for less common songs,” Vincent said.
According to Vincent, the concert enables students to perform music they enjoy.
“Pops is an opportunity for teenagers who primarily listen to pop music to do what they really enjoy doing,” Vincent said.
The Pops concert will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday in the Performing Arts Center. Students can purchase tickets online at palychoirs.com.
