Luke Bryan, popular country artist, once stated, “Anytime I sing the anthem, it is an honor and my heart beats out of my chest.” Singing the national anthem before events, especially sports games, is a long standing tradition that is considered an honor to anyone asked to do it. And on December 27, 2017, the Pitman Madrigals, our advanced choir, got to join in that tradition.

For the last three years, Foster Farms has held the “Oh Say Can You Sing?” contest which invites contestants under 18 from the Bay Area and Central Valley to compete for the chance to sing the national anthem at the annual Foster Farms Bowl football game.

The first step of the competition requires people/groups interested to record a 30-45 second video of themselves singing the national anthem and post it under the title “I Want to Sing at the Foster Farms Bowl.” From here, select contestants are chosen as finalists and  invited to audition in person for a host of judges to battle it out for the final spot.

This year, the winners of “Oh Say Can You Sing?” were our own Pitman High Madrigals, who were the only group act to participate in the competition. Freshman and Madrigals member Delaney Holmes says that was key to their victory, as they were able to add another element to their performance by harmonizing in four parts, which individual acts are unable to do.

The Madrigals have sung at a plethora of varied events, but the Foster Farms Bowl is their largest event yet. Delaney Holmes commented that,“It was really interesting,” and “it wasn’t all that different from a regular performance,” but “some people were really nervous.”

However, the nervousness many felt didn’t make winning any less exciting. Holmes called the experience “surreal” and said that when they got the news “some people were crying and we were all hugging each other…it was really exciting.”

As part of winning the competition, the Pitman High Madrigals were also given the opportunity to choose the recipient of a holiday meal donation from Foster Farms, which they chose to grant to the local United Samaritans Foundation.

Ultimately, the opportunity to sing at the Foster Farms Bowl was, in spite of nervous feelings among its members, an exciting experience that was much deserved for the hard working Madrigals.