Weyburn high school choir to sing with Foreigner

Foreigner has been playing to sold out crowds for 40 years, but it will feel like the first time for teenagers in the Weyburn STARS Comprehensive School Choir.

The group won the Jack FM Contest “I Wanna Know Who the Choir Is” for the chance to sing on stage with the chart-topping British and American band.

Choir member Jillian Harder couldn’t believe it when she got a text message from her friend telling her they won the contest.

“I was so excited, I had no idea this was coming,” she said.

Foreigner is responsible for some of rock and roll’s most enduring anthems including “Juke Box Hero,” “Feels Like The First Time,” “Urgent,” “Head Games,” “Hot Blooded,” “Cold As Ice,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” and the worldwide No. 1 hit, “I Want To Know What Love Is.”

The teenager admits she didn’t know a whole lot about the band, which had 16 top 30 hits on the radio decades before she was born, but she did recognize most of their music.

“My Dad is a fan of a lot of rock, lots of classics, so I kind of grew up listening to that kind of music,” she said. “Once I found out we were doing this for Foreigner, I did a little bit of research and I was like, ‘Oh man, this all sounds like songs from my childhood,’ so I was really excited to get that nostalgia back.”

While Harder and her choir mates are used to performing for small audiences, she has no idea what to expect when they get to join the band on stage to belt out the rock anthem “I Want to Know What Love Is.”

Harder already loves singing in choir and said she knows it will be an unforgettable experience.

“I like that we’re all united doing something that we’re passionate about it and that we love to do – something as pure as music,” she said. “And the fact that we get to do that together on stage in front of a huge crowd is honestly such a blessing, I’m really excited.”

Foreigner brings their 40th Anniversary Tour, with special guests Honeymoon Suite, to the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina Monday at 7:30 p.m.