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

But that hasn’t stopped the school’s student choir from making music. In fact, they just sang at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards show last month, sharing the stage with Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock.

Classes are still virtual for students of Palisades Charter High School after wildfires scorched the school’s campus in January. The student choir meets virtually for rehearsals, and occasionally in person. 

Recovering from the fires that burned the school and destroyed the 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.

“It was something that the whole community could look forward to that was positive,” said Cheng of the Grammy appearance. 

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

@mjjsource20 Stevie Wonder performs “We Are The World Michael Jackson at the Grammy Awards #GRAMMYS2025 #michaeljackson #reels #jenniferlopez #jlo ♬ оригинальный звук – mjjsource

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.  

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

The choir’s 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’s organizers, Cheng reached out to a friend at the Pasadena Waldorf School, and asked that school’s choir to join for the show. 

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

The two schools’ 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 “We are the World” as part of the ceremony’s tribute to Quincy Jones. 

Joining the musical legends onstage, the students wore shirts that read “I Love LA” 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 Beyoncé and Sabrina Carpenter, Cheng said

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

“Because I’m not in the room, we can’t physically hand them something to show me,” said Cheng. “It’s really difficult.”

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’s why singing at the Grammys was so sweet for the students, she said. 

“These are kids that not only sing in choir, but they dance, they produce music, that’s what they want to do,” said Cheng. “So this experience was priceless for them.”

This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.