Jaelen Reaves is well-prepared to study vocal music starting this fall at Oakland University.

And the reason why will be on display this week at Detroit’s Fox Theatre.

“An Evening of Fine Arts,” a free show taking place on Wednesday, May 6, is the Detroit Public Schools Community District’s 57th showcase of performing and visual arts. Some 760 students from 14 schools will take part in the presentation, which includes 27 stage performances and 26 works on display in the Fox’s Grand Lobby.

And for students such as Reaves, who attends the Detroit School of Arts, it’s a chance to take a step towards a career on a stage that’s hosted showbusiness legends they’ve looked up to.

“It’s like, wow, because I know people like Patti LaBelle and Chaka Khan and so many others have performed there,” says Reaves, 18, a vocal soprano who will perform with the DSA Lady Achievers and Concert Choir on Wednesday. “The fact that they sang on that stage and I’m about to sing on that stage is crazy. Just going to the Fox to see (a performance) is a privilege; for me to be performing on that stage is really an honor.

“The fact I have the opportunity to showcase my talent and what we represent here (at DSA). If I was in another school, I would never have had this opportunity. I definitely don’t take it for granted.”

Other performances during the night will come from the district’s harp and vocal ensemble, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary and is the oldest such program in the country, and a selection of choirs, jazz bands, orchestras and theater programs.

“(The evening) spotlights the voices of our students in the highest visual and performing arts programs, district-wide,” says Andrew McGuire, deputy executive director of fine and performing arts for DPSCD. “When our students are stepping on the stage, they’re not only stepping into a legacy, they’re also stepping into the future as performers — as actors, as singers and all of that.”

The evening also demonstrates DCSPD’s continuing commitment to arts education at a time when many districts nationwide have severely limited or completely curtailed similar curriculum.

“We have a whole-child commitment,” McGuire explains, “which has meant the rebuilding and revitalization of fine and performing arts (education) district-wide. And DSA is not the only space where artists exist. All 106 schools have fine and performing arts, with most schools having two or more (programs) in them. It’s really exciting that in an age when there’s so much talk about pulling back, restricting and cutting, that’s not in our narrative at DPSCD. We’re proud of that.”

Reaves is certainly emblematic of the district’s effectiveness. Raised in an artistic family, as well as singing in church, she became interested in classical singing, but plans to study a broad array of styles at Oakland. “I just want to be a solo performer who has every single (style) under my belt,” she says. “I don’t want to just sing one type of genre. I would love to go around the world singing all types of things

“I know that singing, for me, is not a hobby. It’s something that’s in my blood. I can’t do anything but sing every day. So I want to make the best of it.”

The Detroit Public Schools Community District’s “An Evening of Fine Arts” takes place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, at the Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit. Admission is free, but tickets are required. 313-471-7000 or 313Presents.com.

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