SINGING AND DANCING: Pearl River Community College’s showchoir RiverRoad will perform at the Mississippi Showchoir Contest on Feb. 7 and 8.

POPLARVILLE -— Two dozen middle and high school show choirs are scheduled to compete Feb. 7 and 8 in the Mississippi Showchoir Contest at Pearl River Community College.

For the first time, the event will be held in the new Brownstone Center for the Arts on the Poplarville campus.

PRCC started the contest in 1987 and hosted it in Poplarville until Hurricane Katrina in 2005 destroyed the performance venues. The contest was held in Petal in 2006. After a two-year hiatus, PRCC revived the contest in 2009 with the assistance of William Carey University.

“We are thrilled to have the Mississippi Showchoir Contest back home,” said Archie Rawls, chair of the PRCC fine arts and communication department and Brownstone director. “We welcome these talented students and their parents to our state-of-the-art center.”

Admission is $10.

Middle school choirs taking part on Friday, Feb. 7, include Baxterville “Charisma,” South Forrest “Variations,” Northeast Jones “Tiger Vibe,” Columbia Academy “Exclusive,” Pearl River Central “New Edition,” Petal “Spark,” West Jones “Center Stage” and South Jones “Infusion.”

Women’s high school groups competing Saturday, Feb. 8, include Picayune “Tidal Rave,” North Forrest “BELLEcosity,” Crestview, Fla., “Destiny,” Auburn, Ala., “Elan,” South Jones “New Edition” and West Jones “Revolution.”

High school showchoirs scheduled for Saturday are Northeast Jones “Gold Horizons,” Sumrall “Legacy,” Wayne County “Orange Sensations,” Pisgah “Innergy”, Crestview “Chanticleer,” Auburn “Varsity Singers” and South Jones “Company.”

Judges will be Dr. Mark Malone of Hattiesburg, Nancy Bocek of Chicago, Katie Dicicco of Dallas and Brian Johnson of Nebraska. Carol Joy Sparkman of Mississippi College will judge soloists, and the finals judge will be Dr. Jonathan Kilgore of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

Friday’s competition will begin at 4 p.m. After a dinner break, The Voices, PRCC’s vocal ensemble, will present an exhibition performance at 7:15 p.m. Competition will resume at 7:30 p.m. with PRCC’s showchoir, RiverRoad, to give an exhibition performance at 9 p.m. Awards will be announced at 9:30 p.m.

Class A competition will begin at 8:25 a.m. Saturday with morning awards announced at 10:45 a.m. Women’s competition starts at 11 a.m. and continues after the 12:15-1:30 p.m. lunch break. Class AA competition start at 2:45 p.m. and Class AAA at 4:45 p.m.

RiverRoad will perform at 5:30 p.m. before the preliminary awards ceremony at 6 p.m. Finals competition will begin at 7:30 p.m. The Voices will perform immediately before the 10:15 p.m. awards ceremony.

LaDona Tyson is director of PRCC’s choral groups.