CHICO — After months of hard work, a select group from the Children’s Choir of Chico is headed to Chicago to perform in a prestigious conference.

“They are quite impressive musicians!” said artistic director of the choir, Susan Tevis.

The Organization of American Kodály Educators hosts the national conference each year to promote music education and offer participants a chance to sing with their peers. Additionally, participants get to learn from nationally renowned conductors. It’s a competitive event with young singers sending in audition tapes in October to secure one of the 60 to 150 spots offered.

This year, six of the Chico choir’s members tried out and five made it in: Naomi Grover, 13; Riley Montes, 13; Juliet MacMillan, 14; Kai Mattman, 16; and Mona Hendriks, 18. Grover is from Gridley while the other four teens are Chico-based. They’ve been rehearsing since December to get ready for the main event March 7 at the Chicago Symphony Center.

“It makes me happy,” Montes said about singing. “It brings people together.”

The singers are divided into three different choirs and will sing in multiple languages: Latin, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Romanian, Filipino, Norwegian, Pseudo-Yoik, English and Resian. Montes noted her father is Filipino and that she is excited to sing in the Filipino language.

Since 2002, 84 members of the Chico choir have performed at the conference. Hendriks has attended the event six times, singing previously with the organization in Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. For Mattman, this will be her fifth time attending the conference, an event she describes as “so rewarding.”

Both Hendriks and Mattman have been with the Chico choir for over a decade. They say the program has brought them a deep sense of community and a passion for the art of singing.

“It’s so nice to have an instrument you can carry with you everywhere,” Mattman said.

The Chico choir’s application for the event notes registration for the conference is $300, with participants needing to cover their own travel, food and lodging.

“Although this can be an expensive event, students who have participated in the choirs in the past have found it to be an exciting, challenging, and extremely rewarding musical experience,” states the application.