East Valley choir joined Eric Church on stage during Spokane concert

Andrea LaPlante wasn’t sure who the invitation came from, but the request for her East Valley choir to perform at the Spokane Arena got her attention.

“I’ll be honest – I opened the email and I had to ask my kids who Eric Church was,” the choir director said. “Thankfully, they said ‘Oh yeah! We know who Eric Church is!’ ”

Wherever Church performs on his “Holdin’ My Own” tour, the country music star invites a local high school choir to join him on stage for one of his songs. On this trip to Spokane, his third in recent memory, the invitation went to members of LaPlante’s concert choir.

It started when LaPlante and East Valley hosted a workshop with the Young Americans. That group put on a three-day workshop that covered everything from singing and performing to dance and theatrics.

And it got the choir affiliated with the Grammy Foundation.

“In every city he tours in, he goes through the Grammy Foundation to find a choir to invite on stage and join him,” LaPlante said. “That’s how they found us.”

The choir got the music in February and started rehearsing.

Then, on Friday, choir members were picked up at school and taken to the Arena.

“The students really received star treatment all day,” LaPlante said. “When we got to the Arena we had the chance to rehearse with the band. One of his singers, Joanna Cotton, came out and practiced with us briefly and we practiced with his band to a tape of his voice.”

After rehearsal the choir was given its own dressing room backstage, where they were fed dinner.

About the only thing missing was one-on-one time with the singer.

“When we were lined up in the wings, getting ready for the start of the concert, he did come by and he told us to have fun out there and to enjoy ourselves,” LaPlante recalled. “One of our kids yelled ‘You, too!’ ”

LaPlante said her choir is regularly asked to perform at various functions and in front of audiences of various size.

None of those performances reached an audience the size of the one that greeted the choir Friday night. The concert was a near sell-out.

“It was fabulous,” the director said. “I think it may have even been life-changing for kids. It gave kids an opportunity. I call music the great equalizer. It’s not based on how much money you have or who your parents are. This was an opportunity where every kid who was part of the show got the chance to do something special.”

There was the enviable adrenalin-rush of performing once the kids got backstage. Church provided each student with a T-shirt to commemorate the performance and they were invited to stick around for the rest of the show.

“I have a bunch of kids who have kind of been the talk amongst everyone at the school,” LaPlante said. “I am hoping this experience encourage more kids to join the choir.”

Next up for the choir is its spring Pops Concert, which will be May 23.

Just don’t expect a reprise of the Arena performance.

“No, we’re not going to include that,” LaPlante laughed. “This is going to be more about rock music.”