On Friday, March 22, Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School will host a Choral Exchange Concert at 7 p.m.
Jason Berger, a 1992 graduate of JFK, is currently a high school music teacher and choir director at Brighton High School, a suburb of Rochester. On March 22, Berger will be taking approximately 80 of his choral students on a bus and traveling the seven hours to Plainview to perform a concert with the JFK chorus, which is under the direction of Adam Paltrowitz.
Each chorus will perform individually and will then perform a few numbers together. Although the Plainview chorus has had choral exchange concerts in the past, this is the first time that Brighton High School has been involved.
"This is very exciting for me," said Berger. "I am a Plainview alum and ten years later I am coming back. Plainview has a very strong music program and I am so happy to be a product of that."
Brighton students will arrive on Friday afternoon for a rehearsal before the concert. Each student will be spending the night on Friday with a student from Plainview-Old Bethpage High School. Saturday, the Brighton students will take a tour of New York City, stopping at Fifth Avenue and Broadway to see Evita. They will spend Saturday night in the city and return to Brighton on Sunday.
Berger hopes the Choral Exchange Concert becomes an annual event. "This concert will connect upstate and downstate New York. My students are very excited," said Berger. "The hope is that one day, the Plainview students will come to Brighton to perform and see Niagara Falls or something."
There is no charge for this concert and residents are encouraged to come and see this historic event on March 22 at 7 p.m.