Strains of music issued from Gentry Middle and Mount Airy High schools Thursday afternoon as a large number of local students prepared to present an evening of musical entertainment tonight.

The all-county chorus for both middle school and high school will present a concert Friday at 7 p.m. at Mount Airy High School. Tickets are $7 for adults and $3 for students with all proceeds going to support next year’s all-county chorus.

The students, who hail from across the county, were chosen by their directors to participate in the performance and received the music for the concert in January. They practiced in their school choruses for about two months before coming together to practice Thursday afternoon and all day today before the concert.

Students from Central Middle School, Elkin Middle School, Gentry Middle School, Meadowview Middle School, Mount Airy Middle School and Pilot Mountain Middle School practiced at Gentry Middle Thursday afternoon with their chorus directors before traveling to Mount Airy High on Friday to practice with the guest conductor.

Anne M. Saxon, the founding artistic director of the Central Carolina Children’s Chorus and director of the children’s choir program at Centenary United Methodist Church, is the guest conductor for the middle school group. She will be accompanied by Joyce Simmons of Pilot Mountain on the piano.

The middle school chorus will perform “Festival Sanctus,” “Can You Hear?” “Shenandoah,” and “Never Seek to Tell Thy Love.” The middle school boys will sing “Joshua!” while the middle school girls will be featured in “Omnia Sol.”

Chris Lawson, Debbie Diamont, Jennifer Riska, Tonya Smith, Bob Chilton and Susan Gentry, chorus directors for each school, worked together on Thursday to help the students find their sound in such a large ensemble. They also divided them into sectionals by part to start the practice for some more individualized work on each song.

“It’s a chance for our kids to come together and perform and work with a clinician. It is absolutely valuable. It’s a wonderful performing experience,” said Gentry. “The kids look forward to it every year. It’s a chance for everyone to work together. They get to sing with the best of the best.”

The high school chorus practiced on Thursday afternoon and Friday at Mount Airy High School with guest conductor, Dr. Welborn Young, director of choral activities at UNC-Greensboro, and under the supervision of their directors, Sylvia Lowry, Gena Ray, Jonathan Chesson, Patti Fulk and Tanya Smith. Students from East Surry High School, Elkin High School, Mount Airy High School, North Surry High School and Surry Central High School are participating in the performance.

The chorus will perform “Awake the Harp,” “Cindy,” “Down to the River to Pray” and “Earth Song,” as well as “I’ll Ay Call in By Yon Town” and “My Love’s in Germany” from “Three Scottish Folksongs” and “Peace” from “Shaker’s Songs.” According to the directors, this is one of the hardest programs the high school chorus has tackled.

“This is such a wonderful experience for the kids for them to get to sing in a huge chorus,” said Ray, chorus director at Mount Airy High School. “They are so proud when they’ve accomplished the pieces. It’s a nice variety of songs and it gives them the opportunity to try some new things they can’t do in small groups.”

“The experience they have they can take back to their own schools and share,” said Chesson, chorus director at East Surry High School.

The students take pride in the work they put into the pieces and the end product that is revealed during the concert. It provides a unique experience for them to sing in such a large group with a guest conductor.

“It’s pretty cool because in music we can all work together to produce an impressionable sound whereas in sports we’re competing against one another,” said Blake Tickle, a senior at East Surry High School, who is participating in the all-county chorus for the first time.

Allison Dalrymple, a freshman at Elkin High School, participated in the middle school all-county chorus last year but finds some of the pieces this year more challenging.

“I think it’s really cool. It sounds really good when everything comes together, it’s amazing,” she said.

“It’s a good experience. When we get in there it doesn’t sound great, but by the end of the night it sounds amazing,” said Adam Mabry, a senior at Mount Airy High School, who is participating for the fourth time. “I think it’s good to sound good with your choir at school, but when you all get together, it sounds amazing.”

This is the 15th year the county and two city school systems have come together to create an all-county chorus. They alternate which school they use each year so that students get the opportunity to visit other campuses in the area.

“The directors in this county really care about building a choral program within their schools and throughout the county,” said Ray.

Contact Morgan Wall at mwall@mtairynews.com or 719-1929.