Port Chester Students Perform Billy Joel's Hits During District-Wide Choral Concert

The audience was grooving Thursday night to the classic songs of Billy Joel, but it wasn’t the man himself behind the microphone and the venue wasn’t Madison Square Garden— it was Port Chester Middle School where young choral students performed Joel’s hits.

Students from all six of the village’s schools performed during the 27th Annual District Choral Festival, an annual March tradition celebrating Music in Our Schools Month.

Youth singers performed renditions of Joel’s River of Dreams and Just the Way You Are, as well as a slew of other classics, proving that the music department couldn’t have chosen an artist more Americana to serve as the backdrop of the night.

“I liked that everyone in the whole district is playing together to the music,” said Port Chester Middle School student Marissa Tauro.

A total of more than 300 people attended the event, including the singers, their families and community members.

“My son graduated from Port Chester many years ago, but we heard Billy Joel was the theme and figured we’d come out and see the concert,” Port Chester resident Frank Garrity said.

The 5^th Grade Select Chorus, an ensemble of 100 elementary school students, kicked off the show with Lullabye and River of Dreams.

Music teachers Mark Zizolfo and Kristin Fleming taught the students from King Street School, Edison School, Park Avenue School and John F. Kennedy Magnet School a thing or two about classic rock.

Many people at the event enjoyed the concert because it featured some of their favorite Billy Joel songs.

Laura Garcia, a Port Chester Middle School student, particularly enjoyed the selection by the 6th Grade Chorus best because it included her favorite song.

“Piano Man is my favorite because it has a great melody,” she said.

Music is as much a listening experience as it is a form of expression, and music buffs recognized that sometimes you just have to get up and dance.

Girls from Port Chester Middle School definitely had people in the audience wishing they could hop onstage during their choreographed routine to Uptown Girl. The Port Chester High School Concert Choir also performed songs—like Everybody Has a Dream—that weren’t just fun, but had a deeper meaning.

The curtains closed to the beat of New York State of Mind, the perfect ending to what was a joyful celebration of music.

“Music just makes you feel good and it makes other people happy too,” Tauro said.