Duchesne and St. Thomas to Perform at the Astros’ Last Home Game of the Season

Every year, the Duchesne Academy and St. Thomas High School choirs have sung the national anthem for the Astros during the team’s season, and this year is no exception. This game is indeed a very highly anticipated event at the participating schools. This night, the team will give away replica rings, so the stadium will be completely full.

This tradition started six years ago because of the efforts of Duchesne Academy choir director, Kathy Manley. She reached out to the Astros about the requirements for performances and found out that performers must submit a recording during the selection process. The 2011 Duchesne and St. Thomas choirs submitted their piece to the contest and Manley admits that “[she] did not think [they] would get selected,” but to her surprise, the choir was chosen. Manley was particularly happy about the opportunity this presented in joining with the St. Thomas choir, as it allowed the girls to sing in a different arrangement than what they were used to singing.

The choirs had been perfecting their sound since the beginning of school, as three new harmonies needed to be mastered due to the arrangement they chose. The arrangement features the parts of soprano, alto, tenor and bass, which is classified as an SATB piece.

Mrs. Manley confesses that her favorite part about singing the national anthem is “walking out of the tunnel onto the field, but as far as singing the anthem, it is really fun to see the expressions on the singers’ faces as they are singing.”

The National Anthem will be sung by the Duchesne and St. Thomas Choirs on Sunday, Sept. 23. This game will be one to remember, so make sure to grab a ticket and support these outstanding choir programs!