The public is invited to a free performance featuring Mesa Public Schools choral groups at 7 p.m. Oct. 21 in the Mesa Arts Center’s Ikeda Theater, 1 E. Main St, Mesa.

This districtwide event showcases all of the district’s junior and senior high school choirs. Jeff Harris, Westwood High School choral director and director of the Sonoran Desert Chorale, organizes the festival each year. The MAC Foundation has graciously donated the use of the facilities.

Junior high school choirs will perform beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the Ikeda Theater. This is also open to the public. The ensembles will be adjudicated and will receive comments from one of two clinicians, Dr. Julian Ackerley, director of the Tucson Boys Choir and Dr. Craig Peterson, director of choral activities at Mesa Community College.

The 7 p.m. performance in the Ikeda Theater will feature performances by the large ensembles of each high school. The final number, “America…the Dream Goes On,” features the combined choirs, totaling approximately 700 students, the Sonoran Desert Chorale and the Mesa Community College Chamber Singers.

The Secondary Choral Festival demonstrates that Mesa Public Schools is the place families can send their children to receive a well-rounded education. Please join us for an evening of beautiful music!