Aztecs hit a high note
Photo Credit: Arizona Republic
Jessica Hyduke
September 11, 2009
Filed under Features
Very few people, let alone high school students, have had the opportunity to sing in front of a stadium filled with more than 55,000 people. On Aug. 22, seniors Kyle Homewood, Adam Burriel and Kane Jungbluth-Murry had that opportunity when they sang the National Anthem at the Cardinal-Chargers football game.
“It was a truly amazing experience to be able to sing in front of 55,000 people who were all cheering you on,” Jungbluth-Murry said. “Just the fact that we were on that field singing in front of that many people; it was so amazing.”
Burriel found out about the opportunity through an advertisement. To audition, each group or performer had to send in a CD of their version of the National Anthem.
“For a song that is only one minute and 45 seconds long, it took us over eight hours to record it,” Homewood said. “It was frustrating at the time, but we knew the end product would be something we would be happy with. In the end, it was worth it.”
The reason the recording took so long, according to Burriel, is that they had to do three separate, individual tracks in order to get the sound the wanted and to control the volume of each individual.
“We did minor editing like making sure we all ended each note together, especially at the end,” Burriel said. “However, we did absolutely zero pitch-editing.”
The group submitted their version of the song and out of everyone who sent in recordings, only eight groups or individuals were called back.
“The callback was at the stadium so that you were able to get the full effect,” Burriel said. “We were able to listen to the other musicians and we were the only group; the rest were soloists.”
Both Burriel and Homewood had the advantage of singing with Corona’s Jaztecs at a Diamondback’s baseball game last year and knew how to handle a stadium’s sound system.
“The most difficult item of the entire process is getting used to singing over the sound system,” Homewood said. “As in most stadiums, the Cardinals stadium has a slight delay from when we are singing and when the sound is actually projected through the speakers. So as a vocalist you have to learn how to tune out what you are hearing and that can be extremely difficult.”
The entire audition process took about a week and a half. Burriel had arranged the version of the National Anthem beforehand, which had taken about five days.
“I made many different drafts and finally got the one I wanted on the third day and spent the next few days tweaking it to fit each guy’s voice,” Burriel said. “At one point Kane’s part drops down really low. To get the sheet music to read exactly as we performed it, I would have to change it even more.”
Burriel said that he picked the two other singers because of their dedication to singing, talent and their openness about everything. Corona’s choral director Greg Hebert said that there couldn’t be a more “perfect trio.”
“The mixture of their voices with Kyle’s amazing high voice, Adam’s baritone voice and Kane’s resounding low bass voice just create a heavenly sound that very few trio groups are able to attain,” Hebert said.
Each student was given four tickets for the game and while many friends and family didn’t attend the game itself, thanks to modern technologies like YouTube, they were able to view the performance.
“When I watched their performance on the computer, I seriously cried,” Hebert said. “I am so proud of them. The whole thing has blown me away. I think to sing in front of 55,000 people is an honor no matter how old you are. To still be in high school and have that experience is amazing. I am so happy for them. The Cardinals only have 10 home games and that means only 10 groups or singers can perform at the games. The fact that they were one of those 10 is absolutely spectacular.”
All three singers agree that the entire experience is unforgettable, but each had their own favorite memory.
“My favorite memory was when we were finished singing. We all went into our ‘green room,’ where we waited before singing, which was actually more of a locker room,” Burriel said. “But after singing, we kept our composure until making it back there. Once that door closed, the screaming started. It was such a great moment for us to share.”
Jungbluth-Murry, however, enjoyed the more comical parts of the afternoon.
“Adam lost his field pass and he couldn’t even get on the field,” Jungbluth-Murry said, explaining that without this pass they lose access to most of the stadium. “It was my favorite memory because Kyle and I were losing it because we thought we were going to have to sing without him.”
For Homewood, his favorite moment was right before they started to perform.
“The stadium was so loud when the team was coming out and when we starting singing, it went quiet,” Homewood said. “But honestly, the whole ordeal means so much to me. Going from when we submitted the recording and how excited we were to when we were called back for the audition and eventually singing at the game. Every step was fun and we made a lot of great memories.”
They all enjoyed the experience so much that they are thing about auditioning for other opportunities not too different from this one, along with singing at the Corona assemblies like the one on Sept. 4.
“We are hoping to go audition for the Suns in the first or second week of September, if it works with our schedule,” Homewood said. “Adam put together a really nice arrangement and we’ll stick with it.”
