WICKED Star Oluchi Nwaokorie to Perform with 7,000 Newark Students at Prudential Center
American Young Voices, the world's largest school choir program, will present the fully funded concert.
American Young Voices announced that performer Oluchi Nwaokorie, currently the Elphaba standby in the Broadway company of “WICKED”, will join over 7,000 elementary and middle school students on stage at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. This will mark the 11th year of AYV performances in Newark.
These students have spent the entire school year in AYV's semester-long educational program, learning and rehearsing a specially arranged “WICKED” Medley. On June 3, under the direction of world-renowned conductor Francisco J. Núñez, over 7,000 students from across the region will perform for their families in a full professional arena production, complete with live musicians and concert-scale production values.
Performing alongside them will be Oluchi Nwaokorie, who made her Broadway debut as the Elphaba Standby in “WICKED” at the Gershwin Theatre in March 2026. She brings a once-in-a-lifetime dimension to a concert featuring songs from the worldwide phenomenon “WICKED”. Prior to Broadway, she appeared in the Parade National Tour.
“This is everything AYV stands for,” said Ben Lewis, CEO of Young Voices International. “These students have worked all year to bring this music to life. To have them share the stage with a performer like Nwaokorie, who is starring on Broadway now - that's the kind of moment that changes a child's life."
The June 3 concert at Prudential Center is part of AYV's 2026 season, which also includes a Capital Region concert at MVP Arena in Albany, NY on June 2. The program, presented in partnership with the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), serves students in grades 2–8 and emphasizes confidence-building, collaboration, and music literacy over competition.
The 2026 program also connects to Young Voices International's 30th anniversary celebration, including the “WICKED Worldwide Singalong” held on January 22, 2026 at The O2 in London, which united over 500,000 students globally.
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