Jenny Wong, associate conductor, leads the LA Master Chorale in a concert. (photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Master Chorale)

The Los Angeles Master Chorale has created a special virtual version of its annual High School Choir Festival that will be held online on Wednesday, June 3, at 1 p.m.

The chorale usually assembles a mega choir of 1,000 high school singers at Walt Disney Concert Hall for the annual festival, but created the virtual celebration because participants are unable to gather due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Virtual High School Choir Festival will feature favorite moments from recent past festivals, curated by Grant Gershon, the Master Chorale’s Kiki and David Gindler artistic director, Associate Conductor Jenny Wong and Director of Education Lesili Beard. Highlights will include a “Purple Rain” tribute to Prince in 2016, Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me” from 2019, student interviews, testimonials of gratitude from high school seniors and messages from former festival guest conductors. The festival will culminate in a virtual performance of participants singing “The Promise of Light,” by Georgia Stitt, with lyrics by Len Schiff. Hundreds of voice and video recordings were submitted by festival participants to create the piece, which encourages hope amid an environment of isolation and uncertainty.

“The Virtual High School Choir Festival fills a void left among participants when they were notified that the originally scheduled festival was canceled due to the pandemic,” Beard said. “Many of the young singers consider the festival to be a high point of their school year and one of the most enjoyable performance opportunities of their lives. Students are especially eager to experience a special connection to music and their peers who share their enthusiasm for choral singing.”

To view the festival, visit lamasterchorale.org/high-school-choir-festival.