After long hours of practice since the beginning of the school year, Mr. Tyrel Ivie led his Piute High School choir in a special performance at Richfield High School on April 22.
The concert was different from the typical high school choir performance: It was a rock concert, featuring some 90 minutes of rock-and-roll classics, with emphasis on Journey, Van Halen, and Foreigner. What’s more Mr. Ivie organized to combine forces with several other Central Utah high schools, pulling together some-120 voices on the Richfield stage, along with a live rock band.
Among the schools Piute led an outsized role in the program — many of their students working throughout the year not only to learn parts, but to arrange parts for the other schools to sing. Among the nine soloists who sang that night, seven of them were Piute T-Birds.
Earlier in the month Piute’s choir performed three of their songs for Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson, who was visiting for the day.
The Piute Choir stands out among so many other 1A school choirs, in large part to the efforts of Mr. Ivie. On occasion Piute’s cheerleaders have been caught by Byway staff at games, singing in parts. This is a testament to the influence Ivie’s music program has had on these young musicians.
Congratulations to the Piute faculty and students — who after so much work and a few mid-performance surprises, pulled off an epic, unforgettable program we hope we can see again soon.
– The Byway
Feature image caption: Makayla M. (10th) Circleville sings the final number in Piute’s Rock and Roll concert in Richfield: Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” April 22, 2022.