A choir from a local high school has again been selected to perform at a gala event in Kalamazoo.

The Brighton High School Concert Choir and Chamber Choir are participating in the 56th annual Michigan Youth and Arts Festival, taking place this weekend in Kalamazoo. The festival features more than 1,000 students, who applied and are picked out of 250,000 students from across the state.

The Brighton High School Concert Choir is one of just two in the state that will perform at a Gala Concert tonight, which is considered by many to be the state championship of choir. This is the third year in a row that Brighton choirs have been selected to perform for the festival. But Brighton High School Choir Director Phil Johnson says the three-day festival covers much more than just music and includes student exhibitions and performances in dance, theater, instrumental and vocal music, visual arts, music composition and film, as well as the publication of a volume of creative writing.

Also honored was Brighton's Julianne Roberts, three time State of Michigan Champion in the vocal arts. The students that are invited to perform at the event are selected based on their artistic merit, through a succession of auditions. Invitation to the festival represents one of the most prestigious honors in the arts education community. (EO/JK)