SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Before their voices echo across some of the most iconic stages in the country, it all begins in a high school choir room.
Students at Washington High School are preparing for a trip to New York City, one that will take them from familiar rehearsals to unforgettable performances in front of thousands.
The national anthem is a song they know by heart, but soon, they’ll sing it somewhere few ever do, on the field at a New York Yankees game.
“Just overall joy that this random, like high school group from South Dakota gets to go to New York and sing at a Yankees game, you know?” said Kyra Gurath, a Washington High senior.
The opportunity marks a major moment for the group, trading their classroom setting for a stadium filled with fans.
But their voices won’t only be heard outdoors.
Students will also perform inside the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, a massive space known for its unique acoustics, where sound doesn’t simply fade.
“And when you do the tour of the Cathedral, they explain that it’s the longest cathedral in the United States, over two football fields long, and you can fit the Statue of Liberty underneath the dome. So it’s a really amazing place to perform music in, and sound just rings through the hall for eight to twelve seconds, depending on the barometric pressure that day, so when we release the first chord, one of my favorite things is to watch the kids’ faces as they hear that music ring through the hall for a sustained period of time,” said Jeff Spencer, the Sioux Falls School District’s head choral director.
The trip is packed with more than performances.
Students will also attend a Broadway showing of Hamilton live, an experience that helped spark excitement for the trip itself.
“They don’t usually do a repeat of the New York trip, but they did this year because everyone was like, I wanna see Hamilton!” Gurath said.
That experience will extend beyond the audience.
“And the next morning the assistant musical director of Hamilton will work with our students on a piece from the musical, and then give them a little bit of an idea of what it’s like to be a professional musician in New York,” Spencer said.
From the field to the stage to a cathedral filled with sound, the trip offers a range of experiences few high school students encounter.
“They are just a great group of kids. They’re hard working, and they’re easy to be around, and that’s a testament to their parents because they did a great job raising them,” Spencer said.
For many students, the experience is also deeply personal, shaped by the connections built along the way.
“The only reason I made a whole bunch of friends is because of choir, and so there are so many amazing relationships, and people are like, no, don’t go! And I’m like, I’m so glad I could have that, it means so much to me,” Gurath said.
And for Gurath, this trip feels like a full-circle moment.
“I mean, I went on the last one two years ago because I was a sophomore, but I got into Concert Choir, and it was just really fun, but I’m so excited to do this one because it’s more of the people that I relate to, and they’re all my grade and everything. And it’s so fun because we get to go to the Broadway musical Hamilton, and we get to sing at the Yankees game, which last time we didn’t get to do, which is so cool!” she said.
Beyond the performances and travel, educators say being in choir offers lasting benefits, backed by science.
“I think choir develops a community that not everyone has in their daily life and so if they don’t have that somewhere else they can have that here in this environment and also there’s some great brain research that says that when you do musical performance with movement, you activate both hemispheres of your brain simultaneously and build that bridge between the two that helps with critical thinking and problem solving skills,” Spencer said.
For these Washington High students, the trip is about more than the venues; it’s about sharing once-in-a-lifetime moments together and creating memories that will last long after the final note.
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