Over 120 voices filled the room with a call to “Heal the World.” Hundreds of feet bounced and boogied to the South African-inspired beat of “Waka Waka.” Piedmont Middle School watched wide-eyed as high school a cappella students and middle school rockapella students ushered in Diversity Day on May 13.

“We’ve been invited for the last 10 years to perform at Diversity Day and kick off the celebration with singing and music,” a cappella teacher Joseph Piazza said. “A cappella does a wide variety of repertoire and we do a lot of world music and so it seems like a fitting venue for us.”

Freshman Lauren Young, who sang at Diversity Day this year for the second time, said that it’s fun to perform songs that people know.

“It’s just a lot of energy and everyone’s really excited,” Young said.

After watching the older students perform at Diversity Day last year, seventh grader Julian Scherman was inspired to join the middle school a cappella class called rockapella. This year, he took the stage to perform.

“I was really nervous at the beginning because you’re performing in front of all of your friends,” Scherman said. “But when you get up there it’s really fun.”

The high school a cappella students began preparing for Diversity Day after the Spring Revue in early April. They learned three new songs, including the two that they performed at the middle school Diversity Day. On May 13, a cappella students also visited the three elementary schools to perform 30-minute shows, which included the new songs and songs from the Winter Concert and Spring Revue.

“I really like going to all the elementary schools because it reminds me of all my fun times in elementary school,” senior Ricky Peters said. “I like spreading how much people love a cappella and making younger kids want to join a cappella when they get to high school.”

Piazza said that these performances are all about building community.

“A cappella [is] the largest performing ensemble on campus,” Piazza said. “That kind of student involvement being shared with the rest of the community, that’s really important. To be visible not only to parents and teachers, family and friends, but also elementary school kids who want to see the kind of things they can be involved in.”

Music is powerful because it adds expressiveness to all emotions, ranging from sad to uplifting, Young said.

“It changes people’s emotions and feelings in ways that speaking cannot,” Young said.

For Peters, this was his fourth and final performance as a high school a cappella student.

“It’s definitely a little bit sentimental, but I think this is a good way to go out: spreading [a cappella] to future generations and making sure it keeps going,” Peters said.