Susan Ainley group performs National Anthem 

The campus ensemble will be going to San Francisco on April 29 to perform the national anthem at AT&T Park for the San Francisco Giants. 

Earning the highest honors at all of their festivals, the group experienced a year of success at the Worldstrides Heritage Festival and Cal Poly Festival, where they received immense recognition.

Throughout the entire year, Ensemble has made their mark in the musical performance world by performing at venues all over California and taking home prestigious awards. They will try to take that confidence to San Francisco in front of a crowd of 40,000 plus.

Choir director Susan Ainley has been proud of the ensemble group. She knew that the girls had the potential and that they were capable of performing somewhere at a professional park.

“Two years ago, in early October, my husband and I went to a Giants game,” Ainley said. “We were there in celebration since our very first date was at a Giants game. There was an ensemble group performing the national anthem and I turned to my husband and said we could do that.”

Following the performance, Ainley came across one of the ensemble members while standing in a food line. She proceeded to ask her how she was able to audition and sing the national anthem. After this experience, Ainley knew in the back of her mind that she should have the ensemble audition. But with last year’s ensemble, the year consisted of packed rehearsals and fundraising for the trip to New York, with not much time to audition.

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It was not until this year during the final basketball game that Ainley was considering this audition.

“The thought didn’t come to my head again until the semi-final basketball game against Caruthers at home, where I was working the concessions,” Ainley continued. “My senior students came up to me and said that it would be a fun to sing the national anthem one last time. So I gathered together the team and we sang with little preparation. Afterwards, I got compliments from people about the performance on how it was so good.”

This spontaneous decision led the girls to clean up details in the National Anthem and connect with Henry Grimmus, a recording specialist, to coordinate a professional recording to submit as an audition.

“We walked over to the recording studio inside Peoples Church, and in three takes we hit the right sound,” Ainley said. “We emailed the file to the Giants’ organization, after that, the rest was history.”

The girls in ensemble are ready for the chance to sing the national anthem at a Major League baseball stadium. Some parents will be going along with the group to see the game and watch the girls perform. Hannah Nale, ’17, wants to make this performance one of the best she’s ever been apart of. 

“I am not nervous about performing at the Giants stadium,” Nale said. “Our confidence is very high and I think if we take that confidence into the national anthem then none of us should be nervous. It is a tremendous opportunity to sing in front of 30,000 people! I pray that we shine God’s light as we sing our beautiful national anthem.”

Along with watching her favorite baseball team play, Macie Thompson, ‘19, can not wait to sing in front of the crowd at the ballpark. For her, it would be a goal marked off of her check list.

“I am extremely excited to sing the national anthem at a Giants game,” Thompson said. “The reason being is probably because they are my favorite baseball team. This year for the entire choir group has been such a special one. We have worked really hard this year and I think this is a really good prize. I’m really looking forward to singing the national anthem with my friends and to be able to watch my favorite team play.”

Director Ainley is encouraging students from around the campus to go on the trip. She thinks that it will be a great experience and a fun time with friends and family.

She is also looking for as much support as she can get from students and faculty when the ensemble group sings the national anthem.

This is going to be an event that anyone can come to. Those who travel with the choir will be able to see the girls sing and watch the matchup at 6:05 PM.

For another article read, Senior nominated for prestigious athletic award. 

This writer can be reached via email: Suky Cheema.