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Burned in , the Palisades Charter High School campus is still closed to students. 

But that hasn鈥檛 stopped the school鈥檚 student choir from making music. In fact, they just sang at the show last month, with Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock.

Classes are still virtual for students of after wildfires scorched the school鈥檚 campus in January. The student choir meets virtually for rehearsals, and occasionally in person. 

Recovering from the fires that burned the school and destroyed homes and buildings in the surrounding community has been difficult, said choir director Allison Cheng. 

Students and staff are still reeling from the losses, she said, but singing helps transform the trauma from the disaster into a healing experience.

鈥淚t was something that the whole community could look forward to that was positive,鈥� said Cheng of the Grammy appearance. 

See the Palisades High School choir at the one minute mark:

Stevie Wonder performs 鈥淲e Are The World Michael Jackson at the Grammy Awards

Pali High, as the school is called by students and staff, is known for famous alumni such as will.i.am and J.J. Abrams, as well as for being the filming location for movies such as Freaky Friday and Teen Wolf.听听

Cheng said the choir鈥檚 journey to the Grammy Awards began on January 17, when she got a text out of the blue from the event鈥檚 organizers, asking if she would be interested in working on a performance at the televised award show. 

The choir鈥檚 performance, which was kept under wraps until the award show took place, aimed to highlight students from schools affected by the recent LA wildfires, such as Pali High. 

Working with the show鈥檚 organizers, Cheng reached out to a friend at the Pasadena Waldorf School, and asked that school鈥檚 choir to join for the show. 

鈥淚 don’t even know how many emails I sent back and forth with production to make sure we had everything,鈥� said Cheng. 鈥淚t was a lot of work, but I think it was worth it.鈥� 

The two schools鈥� choirs finally met for an in-person rehearsal on Saturday, Feb. 1 with country singer Lamont Van Hook to record a backing track for the performance. 

Their shining moment came the next day during the Grammys when both of the student choirs joined Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock at the star-studded award show for a rendition of 鈥淲e are the World鈥� as part of the ceremony鈥檚 tribute to Quincy Jones. 

Joining the musical legends onstage, the students wore shirts that read 鈥淚 Love LA鈥� as they sang backup accompanied by a jazz ensemble. 

Another high point for the students came when they got to meet some of their idols backstage at the event, including Beyonc茅 and Sabrina Carpenter, Cheng said.

The experience lifted kids鈥� spirits at a tough time for them at school, Cheng said. Online learning is tough, she explained, especially in music programs like hers. 

鈥淏ecause I’m not in the room, we can’t physically hand them something to show me,” said Cheng. 鈥淚t’s really difficult.鈥�

Many Pali High students use music as a safe outlet for expression, Cheng said, and the trauma of the fires has only heightened the importance of artistic education in their lives. 

That鈥檚 why singing at the Grammys was so sweet for the students, she said. 

鈥淭hese are kids that not only sing in choir, but they dance, they produce music, that’s what they want to do,鈥� said Cheng. 鈥淪o this experience was priceless for them.鈥�

This article is part of a collaboration between 麻豆精品 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

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