Nine school choirs from across El Paso are asking the public to pick them as the borderland's next big stage act — not for a talent show, but for a shot at singing backup with classic rock band Foreigner. Voting opened today and runs through noon on Sunday, with the winning choir set to perform live with the band at the Abraham Chavez Theatre on October 16, taking home a $500 donation along with the once-in-a-lifetime gig.
The contest, detailed by 93.1 KISS FM, invites the public to vote for their favorite among nine finalist choirs, with voters able to watch finalist performances before casting a ballot. The winner will be announced October 5, giving the chosen students just eleven days to prepare before joining Foreigner for “I Want to Know What Love Is” at the Abraham Chavez Theatre on October 16 as part of the band's Celebrating Fifty Years tour, according to El Paso Live. The downtown venue seats up to 2,500 people and sits next to the Judson F. Williams Convention Center.
Nine Schools, Nine Different Needs
The finalists span a wide range of El Paso campuses, each with its own story and its own plan for the money. Bel Air High School's choir, which learned “I Want to Know What Love Is” in just three days before fall break, says it would put the $500 toward music supplies, equipment maintenance, uniforms, and transportation, per the same report. SSG Manuel R. Puentes Middle School's choir is hoping the donation covers new risers and a piano, while Capt. Walter E. Clarke Middle School's choir says it needs music, classroom materials, and performance materials.
Other finalists are navigating thinner resources and smaller rosters. Navarrete Middle School, a Title I campus in the El Paso Independent School District, says its choir would use the funds for t-shirts. Magoffin Middle School's choir has cycled through three choir teachers in two years and only started working with its newest instructor in December; Irvin High School's choir, which has just eight singers, began with its current director that same month. Montwood Middle's choir, which lost a singer unexpectedly last year, hopes to buy new microphones and a dedication plaque, while Montwood High School's choir is also among the finalists. The DaVinci School for Science and the Arts, a small charter school whose students travel from Mexico to attend, is led by choir and orchestra director James David Hamilton, also a bass player for Fungi Mungle; that choir would use its winnings for new instruments, equipment, or an educational field trip.
A Decade-Plus of Student Choirs Taking the Stage
El Paso's contest is part of a tradition of Foreigner offering school choirs the chance to perform with the band. By 2018, Foreigner had offered choir performances and $500 donations for more than nine years, according to Prince William Living. The GRAMMY Foundation, Foreigner's charity partner, is dedicated to supporting music education, the publication reported. “I Want to Know What Love Is” is a classic No. 1 single and featured background vocals from the New Jersey Mass Choir.
El Paso has its own history with the contest. Riverside High School's choir won the local competition a few years earlier, according to KISS El Paso.
Part of a Bigger Texas Swing
El Paso's vote isn't happening in isolation. Radio stations across Texas have run identical Foreigner choir competitions this fall, including Austin station KBPA, which is sending its own winning choir to the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park on October 7. Hoodline previously reported that Wichita Falls Memorial High School would give a performance at Foreigner's September 29 show at Kay Yeager Coliseum, and that three Oklahoma high school choirs competed in a separate radio fan vote to join Foreigner at the Riverwind Casino on October 2.
For the nine El Paso finalists, the stakes go beyond a single night under the lights. A $500 donation can mean new risers for a middle school choir room or replacement microphones for a program that lost a singer unexpectedly — the kind of practical boost that keeps a school's music program running even after the applause fades. Voting remains open through noon Sunday, with El Paso set to learn its winning choir on October 5.
