Pleasant Valley Intermediate School is hosting the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 10 Elementary Song Fest at 7 p.m. today in the Pleasant Valley High School auditorium. This is the second year in a row that PVIS has cohosted the event.

Athena Yeager, PVIA chorus teacher and cohost of this year’s event, said, “We have been very fortunate to not only have a beautiful facility at the high school that allows us to host the event and accommodate over 200 students, but also we have a supportive school environment.”

The choral festival and concert is comprised of 210 students in fifth and sixth grades. The students come from 17 schools in seven school districts in 10 counties. These students are the best of their school choirs.

Yeager explained that the schools can nominate 12 students, but larger schools can include additional students.

For instance, PVIS has more than 300 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students in chorus. She held auditions for just fifth graders to participate in the concert and selected 30.

“I am fortunate to have many talented students,” she said.

The PVIS students participating this year include: Mackenzie Abuiso, Isabella Anthony, Izabella Ayala, Kennedy Beim, Keyli Cuautla, Addison Dreher, Claira Fauerbach, Aubrey Flickner, Jazmin Gonzalez, Gizelle Green, Kaley Greene, Paige Kasper, Leighna Keller, Nathan Madhoo, Anthony Malazzo, Caissie Manzo, Mia Mullin, Payal Patel, Niomi Paulin, Jaxsen Perez, Kohlby Polchik, Roslyn Romano, Kaylee Russell, Madelyn Sandt, Alisha Semidey, Anna Smith, Kaylynn Smith, Emma Torres Menendez, Rori Wadiak, and Cici Weidinger Rojas.

“Song Fest provides our students with the opportunity to sing with students from many different schools and work with a new conductor. I love seeing them gain confidence in their singing,” Yeager said.

“They gain experience with several musical skills including singing separate parts, large ensemble techniques, and sharing love of music within a larger community. Additionally, the students who participate in Songfest bring these skills and joy for music back to their home schools, benefiting the groups they belong to as a whole. This is one of the many benefits of music education, when one person improves, the whole group improves.”

Yeager’s students spoke about their feelings leading up to the concert.

“I’m like nervous and excited at the same time,” said Paige Kasper.

Addison Dreher said, “I’m really excited. I like singing with a bunch of people and I like performing for people.”

“I’m scared because we’re going to be performing in front of a lot of people, but also excited because it’s a huge thing where a whole lot of schools are coming together,” Nathan Madhoo said. “I think it’s going to be great.”

The PVIS students’ resoundingly said their favorite song for the concert is “This is Me.” They said they liked it because it is upbeat, has a good rhythm, positive message, and it “expresses our feelings.”

The other schools participating in the festival concert include:

• St. Ann School, Diocese of Allentown;

• Resica Elementary School and John T. Lambert Intermediate School, both from the East Stroudsburg Area School District;

• Nazareth Area Intermediate School;

• S.S. Palmer Elementary School and Towamensing Elementary, both from the Palmerton School District;

• Clear Run Intermediate School, Swiftwater Intermediate School and Tobyhanna Elementary Center, all from the Pocono Mountain School District;

• Weatherly Area Elementary School;

• Circle of Seasons Charter School, Allentown;

• Delaware Valley Middle School and Dingman-Delware Elementary, both from the Delaware Valley School District, and;

• Saucon Valley Middle School.

Yeager is cohosting the event with Jo Sponsler, a music teacher at Pleasant Valley Elementary School. She cohosted the event last year with Natalie Maderia, the music teacher at Towamensing Elementary School in the Palmerton Area School District.

This year’s event is coordinated by Debra Heiney, and the guest conductor is veteran music teacher Catherine Ann Tynemouth, the choral director at Notre Dame Jr./Sr. High School in East Stroudsburg.

Yeager said that Tynemouth had a 38 year career as a music teacher before retiring after 30 years teaching in the East Stroudsburg Area School District. She has been awarded teacher of the year and the Above and Beyond Award in the East Stroudsburg District, as well as being inducted recently into the Music Hall of Fame. She also has received the Citation of Excellence from PMEA.

Tickets for the concert cost $5 and will be available at the door.