An honor and a challenge
At McMinnville High School, though, students take turns proudly performing the anthem live.
“It’s been a tradition for a long, long time,” said Ryan McIrvin, Mac High athletic director. “It’s an awesome, cool thing that showcases kids’ talents.”
Karley Jones, Mac High’s vocal music director, sang the national anthem at games when she was a student. The 2002 MHS graduate had the chance because she was a member of the Twilighters’ vocal jazz ensemble.
She requires singing at games for the Twilighters she directs today. Each of the 17 singers must perform the anthem at least once; many do it several times a year.
Dana Libonati was the director when Jones, then Karley Herrick, was in school. Having students sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” already was a tradition when he joined Mac High in 1992.
So longtime choir teacher Doug Anderson must have initiated the practice, maybe when he founded the Twilighters nearly 60 years ago.
No matter how long ago it started, the live singing of the national anthem has an impact on sports fans. “Other teams would come to us, so impressed,” Libonati recalled.
They still do, McIrvin said. “Visiting schools and parents comment. They love it,” he said.
The athletic director said he’s always impressed himself. “The kids do a really good job,” he said. “The kids are awesome. We have some really talented kids.”
MJ Milam sang at the opening of the Grizzly boys’ basketball game Friday night, Jan. 16. Adeen Willis sang for the girls’ game.
At the start of the year, Adeen said, Jones distributed a list of all the games at which students would sing — boys’ and girls’ basketball, soccer, volleyball, swimming and cross country meets, wrestling matches and some baseball games.
If someone can’t make it on their designated night, it’s up to them to find a substitute. If no student sub is available, teachers such as Ericson Teller or Dan Willis fill in.
“It’s an expectation that we’ll do it,” Adeen said, “but no pressure. It’s an honor to perform the anthem. It’s cool we’re asked to sing.”
The singers use a microphone and perform a cappella, so they “get to make it their own, but still recognizable,” Jones said.
“The national anthem is a very difficult song. It is incredibly low and incredibly high,” she said. “You learn to use your chest voice, your head voice, and to belt it out.”
Adeen agreed that it’s difficult but said she and other Twilighters enjoy the challenge.
“You get to show your talents, and represent at the games,” she said, noting that performing the anthem exemplifies the cooperative relationship between music and sports at Mac High.
MJ said she signs up every year because she likes to show her vocal range and represent her peers. “I have so much pride for our school,” she said.
Before game time, each anthem singer prepares with their vocal music instructor. They rehearse the song several times to build confidence, Adeen said.
Still, performing the anthem before the game-night crowd can be “nerve-wracking,” Adeen said. “You need to take some deep breaths before you sing,” she said.
“There are a lot of people there,” she explained “But they’re not a tough crowd;” they are appreciative.
MJ remembered her first time singing at a game. She was a sophomore and felt very nervous as the opening of a softball game approached.
Her performance went okay, she said, but it was “definitely not my best.” However, she considered it a starting point that “showed me where I can go with my vocals.”
Now she’s happy with her performances and isn’t nervous at all. “It’s easy,” she said.
As a group, the Twilighters sing the national anthem at assemblies and graduations, so they all know the lyrics.
But singing it solo is different. Adeen, for instance, usually has a harmony part. At games she sings the melody, “a different vibe.”
She and MJ both urge younger Twilighters to sign up to sing the anthem. “It’s a great opportunity,” Adeen said.
Jones, the Twilighters’ director, agreed that singing the national anthem is an opportunity to challenge and prove yourself, as well as to build confidence.
She recalled being scared before her first solo performance.
“The whole audience was listening! They all knew the song!” she said, recalling that evening.
Today she tells her students to ignore the audience and “don’t let it mess with your psyche.”
“It’s so respectful to our country,” she added. “And you get to stand up there and show the world your voice.”
Twilighters to perform
The McMinnville High School Twilighters will perform as an ensemble during the January edition of the Keynote Concert Series on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
They will join the Delphi Songbirds in the concert starting at 7 p.m. in the McMinnville First Baptist Church. The Patton Middle School choir is the opening act.
Admission to the Keynote Concert is $20 general, $15 for seniors and $13 for students.
The Delphian School group is directed by Dana Libonati, founder of the Keynote series. Libonati led the Twilighters for many years before retiring from the vocal music director at Mac High.
In addition, the Twilighters will sing Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Swingin’ on a Star music fundraiser in the McMinnville Community Center. Karley Jones now is MHS vocal director and director of the Twilighters.
About the national anthem
“The Star-Spangled Banner” we’re accustomed to hearing at athletic competitions, graduations and other events is the first verse of a poem written by Francis Scott Key in 1814.
Key was inspired by American troops’ efforts to hold off the British as they tried to take Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, Maryland; the British earlier had raided Washington, D.C.
The battle raged during the night. But as the sun rose, Key was thrilled to see the U.S. had prevailed; the American flag still flew over the fort.
“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”
Key titled his poem “Defense of Ft. McHenry.” But as the poem’s fame spread, a music publisher changed it to “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It was set to a familiar melody to most Americans at the time — a drinking song written by a British composer.
More than a century after it was written, “The Star-Spangled Banner” became the national anthem when it was approved by Congress in 1931.
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