On August 29th, Astros fans at Minute Maid Park were treated to a 6-3 win over the Kansas City Royals and a resonant rendition of the national anthem, sung by the St. Thomas and Duchesne Academy choirs. Josh Wilson and Kathy Montgomery, the choir directors at each school, led the students through separate rehearsals leading up to the performance.

Despite not having any rehearsals in which both schools sang through the piece together, the students performed a harmonious and well-blended musical piece.

“Especially since we had this performance at the start of the year, we got our students ready on their own parts separately,” STH Singers director Josh Wilson said. “We’ve barely had time to start gelling as a choir, so for them to sing so well this early in the year, I’m very proud of what they did.”

The student singers arrived at the ballpark an hour before their show time to assemble in the underground tunnels that run beneath the field, where they got to see some behind-the-scenes baseball action. The students watched the Astros’ mascot, Orbit, run through the tunnels and pop up in different parts of the crowd, and saw wives and families of the players arrive at Minute Maid.

“It’s always fun to go behind-the-scenes,” Wilson said. “To get up close and see the players and be on the field. The Astros treat us very well.”

After waiting and running through a brief practice of their performance, the students filed out to centerfield, where the fans and players awaited their arrival. At Wilson’s cue, the choir began singing a traditional version of the national anthem for the crowd.

“A producer-type person from the Astros will listen to us sing and make sure that we’re going to sing the anthem in a way that’s straightforward,” Wilson said. “The Astros are very particular about that. They always tell us that we do a great job with that, and that the students are great.”

Due to the loud speaker system and acoustic lag in the ballpark, the students had to think on their feet and watch Wilson’s conducting with skillful concentration to keep their timing correct. With thousands of eyes on them, they sang through the anthem without missing a beat.

“You’re really right there in the middle of things,” Wilson said. “It’s a very interesting experience with the echo and delay effect. The students did great, and they had a great time.”

After the performance, students enjoyed an exciting game of Astros baseball. In the following days back at school, fresh off the excitement of performing at Minute Maid Park, the St. Thomas High School choir began rehearsal for their upcoming fall concert, to be held at Incarnate Word Academy on September 26th.

Article by Sarah Jane Lasley