On Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, the Brighton High School Choirs students put on their fall concert, the first of the year. The two BHS choirs performed their own songs, as well as a song with the Scranton Middle School Choirs. The concert was also the scene of the debut performance of BHS’s newest a cappella group, Vox Populi.
According to choir director Mr. Phillip Johnson, Vox Populi, or more commonly known as “Vox Pop,” is a “director-run, student-motivated group of choir students looking for additional performance opportunities.” BHS has three additional auditioned a cappella groups, which are different because they are student-run. “Vox Pop” is a mixed, or co-ed, a cappella group, and students in any grade can participate. Senior Piper Barnes, who was a soloist at the fall performance, said that this is one of her favorite parts about the group.
“The people in Vox Populi are so wonderful, and I’m super grateful to have met them because I would have never met some of the freshmen and sophomores in my current choir class,” Barnes said. “The experience is one I’ve been waiting to have for a long time, and finally achieving it in my senior year feels amazing.”
Vox Populi’s position as the newest of these groups means there is a lot to prove, but it also leaves a lot of room for growth.
“Vox Populi was built from scratch, just over the summer, so it definitely was a learning curve for all of us coming into the school year,” Barnes said.
The group’s first performance was at the fall concert, meaning they had to work quickly to get the learning process going and learn to perform together.
“We’re all still learning how to work together, but we’ve made huge progress already,” Barnes said.
Vox Populi started as an idea from the students, and the amount of talent at BHS allowed for another group to be formed amongst the school’s already rich a cappella scene. The name “Vox Populi,” which means “voice of the people” in Latin, reflects the group’s sense of initiative and inclusivity. As Johnson put it, “The Vox Pop students wanted it and went and got it!”
Regarding the choir concert, it was the first of the year, though this does not mean the students did not display an impressive performance.
Both BHS choirs sang with the combined Scranton choirs, a tradition of many years that allows students at different levels to sing together. This also gets the younger generation of choir students excited about what they can be a part of in the future after seeing the more experienced work of the high school choir. The other three a cappella groups, Chicappella, Da Capo and Notorious, also performed at the concert with arranged pop songs and several soloists. In addition to the two in-school choirs that performed, the after-school Chamber Choir also showcased their first performance of the year.
“The choir has been very focused and working hard this year,” Johnson said. “People are really taking ownership of the music we are singing and are holding themselves accountable to learn the music quickly and correctly.”
All of the choirs performed well for the beginning of the year and have shown growth already, setting the standard for what is to come in the multiple concerts throughout the rest of the year. The a cappella groups and choir students will continue to work hard throughout the year and are already planning their music for the next concert. As for Vox Populi, the group may just be getting started, but Johnson and the students hope it will continue and grow in the future.
“I am looking at this group as what it can be right now, but I hope it will continue past this year,” Johnson said.
