Once again the Surry County middle and high school chorus students will come together to perform for the public.

The 16th annual Surry County Honors Chorus concert will take place Friday at 7 p.m. at the Elkin High School auditorium. Students from Central Middle, Elkin Middle, Gentry Middle, Meadowview Middle, Mount Airy Middle and Pilot Mountain Middle will perform together. They will also join students from East Surry High, Elkin High, Mount Airy High, North Surry High and Surry Central High on the stage for two special performances.

The first joint performance will be “Siyahamba,” an African processional, which will serve as a way to get everyone on stage.

A new concept this year will be another joint performance for the two groups. Rollo Dilworth, an internationally known composer, has even taken note of the group.

“He has commissioned a piece just for our choirs to perform. It’s called ‘Shenandoah’ and it is a folk song with a gospel and jazz kind of flavor,” said Patti Fulk, choral director at Surry Central High. “We’ve never had everybody pieced together for one song.”

The students will also be exposed to guest conductors and pianists through the process. Dr. Dan Huff from the University of North Carolina’s music department will conduct the high school chorus and will be accompanied by Winston Stephens from East Forsyth High School on the piano. Lee Mabe from Lexington City Schools will be the conductor for the middle school with Linda Denny at the piano.

“These kids stay in rehearsal for a long time,” said Fulk. “It is a very vigorous experience for these young people.”

The students received the pieces ahead of time and were able to work on them. The middle schools held a joint practice Wednesday afternoon and the high school will hold one this afternoon. Students will spend all day on Friday practicing at Elkin High School in order to be ready for Friday night’s performance.

The concert provides an opportunity for the county’s middle and high schools to collaborate for one event. It exposes the students to different music and different sounds because of the large group atmosphere. It is a chance for not only the students but the choral directors from all three school systems to join together for a performance.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the choral students in Surry County to receive a large choral experience,” said Fulk. “Most of our programs are small and that limits our repertoire. It gives them a wonderful opportunity to explore some large choral works.”

Admission to the concert is $5 for adults and $3 for students.

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