Matthew Remus, choir director at Elkhorn Area High School, is starting his ninth year at Elkhorn and it’s fair to say he and his choirs have never kicked the school year off like they will Sept. 4.
The group, comprised of summer music students – mostly from the high school, a few from the middle school – will open for the band Foreigner Sunday, Sept. 4, at the Walworth County Fair.
Performance time for the choir will be about 7 p.m., with the band to follow at 7:30 p.m.
“We’re pretty excited,” Remus said. “It’ll be a pretty neat thing to do.”
The choir will perform a selection of a cappella music, including “Sir Duke,” a hit from Stevie Wonder, and “Light of a Clear, Blue Morning” by Dolly Parton. The third song is “Take Me Home” by Pentatonix.
How did the amazing opportunity come about? Remus got an email near the end of the 2021-22 school year from Larry Gaffey, the general manager for the fair.
“It’s not even like we auditioned for it,” Remus said. “It was just offered to us. And, of course, we accepted.”
Foreigner often asks local groups to perform. Before COVID-19, the choir would join Foreigner on stage for “I Wanna Know What Love Is” but post-pandemic, the groups now open for the band.
The challenge for Elkhorn was the end of the school year, and students scattering to a number of different summer activities.
Remus pulled together a group of about 16 students, and chose the music before starting practice.
But even practice took a few odd turns. Because of the summer cleaning schedule in the school district, rehearsal often could not happen at the high school.
“I’m sitting in my classroom today,” Remus said on Monday. “But before that, they waxed and then it had to set.”
So, Remus did what music teachers do well – improvise. Students came to his home in Elkhorn and rehearsed in his basement.
The group has been practicing once a week up until now, but Remus said the group will intensify practices over the next week and a half leading up to the concert.
Of course, there is a generation gap. Remus said most of the students didn’t even know Foreigner before the summer began, and Remus has been too busy with rehearsals to introduce the students to it.
“I’m familiar with them,” Remus said, adding that he plans to stay for the concert after the performance.
“All the students will have tickets,” he added.
For a full line-up from the fair, go to www.walworthcountyfairgrounds.com.
