Local New York High School to Sing with Foreigner

A local Upstate New York high school has been selected to sing with 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Foreigner on Tuesday, July 30th at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center!

Local High School to Sing Onstage with Foreigner

Rock band Foreigner is currently on their farewell tour! Foreigner hosts a contest in each tour city to find the best a cappella choirs in town. Choirs are asked to submit a video recording of their performance of a three-to-five minute a cappella program of their favorite Classic Rock songs. Foreigner’s media partner in each city (usually a Classic Rock radio station) will partner with Foreigner to tally audience votes and up to five winning choirs will open the Foreigner Farewell Tour. Each winning choir will receive a donation to their music program, a special gift from BOSE, and a panel of judges will select the best performance of the night. That choir will be awarded a substantial prize. You can check out the contest at https://www.foreignerchoirs.com/

The local high school in question is Broadalbin-Perth High School in Broadalbin, New York. I got to speak with music teacher, choir director, and old friend Alex Hitrick.

So I'm currently finishing up year 4 as a teacher and our main goal in our music department truly is to make each other better than we were the day before. It's been such an evolution within the entire department and we are seeing the results. Our numbers are higher than ever in recent years, performing at higher levels, and having so much fun along the way.

An example of that growth is that their Sr. High Choir just performed at NYSSMA Majors for the first time in years this academic school year. They came home with a Silver rating for our Level IV pieces! Speaking with the choir director at Broadalbin-Perth High School Alex Hitrick, he told us how the kids managed to achieve the incredible honor of performing with Foreigner!

One of my students brought this contest to my attention and we both knew we had to do it. All of the students were on board instantly, so we immediately got to filming our audition. When I received news that we won, I was ecstatic for the kids. They have been working nonstop not only in the music department, but our drama and arts departments, sports, you name it. These kids deserve the recognition they are about to get! It's a once in a lifetime experience and I am proud and honored that they have been selected.

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Alex Hitrick is an incredible performing musician in his own right. He has released and performed plenty of his own solo music over the years, along with performing in bands like Funk Evolution and Monkberry throughout the New York Capital Region. Alex takes many of his inspirations from 70s and 80s artists such as Billy Joel, Elton John, Paul McCartney, among others. I asked him where Foreigner lands on the list for him.

Foreigner has a special place in my heart. They were one of the first bands that got me into rock music in the first place. So while I don't listen to them on the daily like those musicians stated, I do get amped up when I hear their music come on because it reminds me of the very first time "ba dum, tss." ["Feels Like the First Time"]

Now, that's Alex's experience with Foreigner, but did the kids know who Foreigner was ahead of this contest.

I would say they knew the song I Want to Know What Love Is, but that's it. So they're in for a great time at the concert learning new music. There is one student that will know all the words to every song AND it's his first concert ever so that'll be exciting!

You can see the Broadalbin-Perth High School perform with Foreigner on July 30th at SPAC. Tickets are available now!