They include 21 students from the Hillside Avenue School: Patrick Ahern, Lean Blanes, Peter Collier, Christopher Davitt, Michael Davitt, Art Ernst, Jay Hoffacker, Courtney Koellner, Chelsea Lanier, Jonathan Llenza, Ryan Meier, Jaclyn Morgese, Eric Murphy, Brian Niemiec, Robert Piakowski, Thomas Sheridan, William Singer, Kate Vaupel, Kelly Wegryn, Cristine Wilson and Todd Wilson.

Seven singers, meanwhile, are from Cranford High School: Samantha Dango, Kate Esolda, Mark Harley and Jullian Widdows.

Chosen from Orange Avenue School was Jarrod Schlenker.

Also in the chorus from Cranford are Eddie Egan, who attends school in West Orange, and Kyle English from Edison.

All are scheduled to sing in two choirs at the Honors Chorus concert.

The Junior High Honor Choir will be under the direction of Tom Pedas, director of vocal music at Hillside Avenue School.

The Elementary Honor Choir will be under the direction of Judith Willoughby at Temple University.

Each choir has 120 students from across the Garden State, selected through competitive auditions held in January.

The Honors Chorus concert is sponsored by the New Jersey Music Educators Association and the American Choral Directors Association.

Singing can also help students learn more about themselves through music, he said.“For me, I am no longer Justin when I sing,” he said. “I have to find a character in the song, and I try to become that character.”

Justin did just that as he practiced and later performed with the New Jersey Junior High Honor Choir in Maplewood earlier this month. The 110-member junior high honor choir and the 110-member New Jersey Elementary Honor Choir spent a full day on May 6 rehearsing and then performing a concert for an auditorium full of people at Columbia High School. The choirs are made up of some of the best young singers in the state.

It was a celebration of music and of song, as students, all of whom sing in choirs throughout New Jersey, spent the day doing what they love best.

Ellen Schafer, 15, of East Brunswick, does not consider herself a very confident person -- except when she gets onstage and sings. Then everything changes. “I love to sing because it gives me a sense of confidence that I lack in other areas,” said Ellen, a ninth grader at Churchill Junior High School and a member of the junior high honor choir.

Her talent also helps her meet a lot of new people.

Ed Egan, 15, from Cranford, said he thinks “singing is the best way to express your emotions through sound and rhythm.”

The freshman at Seton Hall Prep in West Orange said he enjoys singing songs about other cultures because then he gets to learn about them. Ed was a member of the junior high group.

All of the students received the music beforehand and had practiced it before coming together at regional rehearsals in April and finally the large rehearsal and concert.

Children for both groups were selected through competitive auditions. Each student, with the help of a music teacher or choral conductor, submitted an audition tape, which was then evaluated by the judges. The 220 singers prepared the music with their individual teachers before the regional rehearsals.

Katherine Ashe, 12, of White Township in Warren County, said she learned so much in one day about music just from working with the different conductors. “I learned different ways to sing and different musical things I did not know.

“These are the best voices in the state, and I enjoy just listening to all of the others sing the words," said Katherine, a member of the elementary group and a sixth grader at White Township School. "I just feel so special to be a part of it.”

Each year different conductors from across the country are selected to conduct the choirs. This year Tom Pedas, the long-time manager of the elementary honor choir and Cranford music teacher, conducted the junior high honor choir, while Judith Willoughby, the founding director of the Temple University Children's Choir, led the elementary honor choir and the finale for the combined choirs.

Molly Motyka, from Hampton Township in Sussex County, said it was interesting to see how different people conduct. The 12-year-old singer, a member of the elementary choir, said she improved her singing from working with new conductors. Molly is a sixth grader at McKewn School in Hampton.

The annual event is sponsored by the New Jersey Music Educators Association and the American Choral Directors Association to give talented students from around the state the opportunity to perform under the direction of nationally known choral conductors.

The honor choirs also help prepare students for the New Jersey All-State Choir, composed of the best high school singers in the state. Students in the honor choirs learn how to audition, what judges are looking for and how to work with new conductors. The experience is valuable for those who go on to audition for All-State. The All-Star Choir performs every fall in Atlantic City and at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

Singers who are interested in participating in next year's concert may e-mail Tom Pedas at TPEDAS@AOL.COM.