Members of Colony and Palmer choirs perform with classic rock legends

Classic rock legends Foreigner hit the Alaska State Fair’s Borealis Theatre stage Saturday night. But the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees also shared the spotlight with some local talent.

Members of the Colony and Palmer high school choir programs joined Foreigner on the 1984 hit “I Want to Know What Love Is.”

“It was an out of the ordinary experience, something you never think you’ll be able to do,” Colony High senior Lily Foster said of signing with the legendary band in front of a sold-out venue with thousands of fans. “Knowing so many people were cheering our group was a great experience.”

Foster was one of about 25 students who performed with the band.

“When we first heard about being acknowledged on stage, everyone got really excited,” Foster said.

Foster said her grandfather introduced her to Foreigner’s music. But she still wasn’t sure how much of the catalog she’d actually know.

“I thought I was going into the concert knowing none of them, and then they started playing them and it all started coming to me, knowing all of the lyrics,” Foster said.

Colony High choir director Kelly Rentz said she’s proud of how all of the students performed.

“We had a great time. They really enjoyed it,” Rentz said.

The choir was invited to the band’s sound check that afternoon, and had the chance to check out the back of the stage, and wave to band members are Foreigner prepared for their set.

The choir members were part of a standing room only crowd for about the first nine songs of the show, before joining for “I Want to Know What Love Is.”

Foreigner filled its set with hits such as “Double Vision,” “Cold as Ice,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “Feels Like the First Time,” “Juke Box Hero,” and “Hot Blooded,” which closed the show.

Following the choir’s performance with the band, Foreigner lead singer Kelly Hansen spoke to the crowd about the importance of music education and the need to keep it funded in schools.

“I thought that was a really great way to end the concert and highlight the students,” Rentz said.

Foreigner donated $500 to each school.

“I thought that was really cool of them,” Rentz said.

Rentz said this all started when the band’s representatives sent out an all-call in May to area schools looking for local programs to participate. By the time Rentz was able to contact the representatives, Palmer High choir director Braden VanAusdal had already reached them.

“I called him and said if you don’t have enough kids, can we join you? He said, absolutely yes,” Rentz said. “We’re kind of doing it together. I’m really excited about that.”

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at editor@frontiersman.com.