Gilroy High Choir To Sing National Anthem At Top Sporting Events

GILROY, CA — The only time one might hear Gilroy High School choir members' voices cracking is when they're talking about how far their community has come since a tragic mass shooting July 28 that killed four and injured 20 during its flagship event tried to steal their innocence.

To hear Gilroy High School students Eli Barnson and Audrey Hudson and their Choir Director Jonathan Souza tell it, their town has been brought together as a team since the Garlic Festival as much as the major sports franchises they're destined to sing for over the next few weeks.

Their choir's angelic singing will be on full-throated display for tens of thousands of others when Eli and Audrey belt out the national anthem with healing pride, camaraderie and of course a little "Gilroy-strong" vigor Friday night before the San Jose Giants game at 7 p.m. They'll continue their notes of healing next Wednesday at the Oakland Athletics game, also set for 7 p.m. From there, the chamber singers will appropriately perform as part of the San Francisco Giants fanfare for the "Strike Out Violence" Sept. 15 game. The schedule will move into next year with the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 27.

"In the aftermath in what has happened in our community, I think all of us are trying to figure how to reconcile with this. Making donations is great for some people, but what we have to give is our voices, and to say, we're okay, and with that, to lift up all who are around us," Souza told Patch.

The flurry of bookings represents the first time the choir will perform the Star Spangled banner during a major sporting event.

"Despite what happened, I feel lucky to come to work every day with these young people," Souza said of his school group that volunteered at the Gourmet Alley section of the festival. He couldn't be more proud given the magnitude of what they've gone through.

Eli experienced the tragedy first hand when he scrambled to safety in a refrigerated truck and grabbed others along the way when the melee first broke out. At the time, it was a methodical, level-headed response, which gave way to the realization within hours that he and those he knows and loves could have been injured or even killed alongside Stephen Romero, 6, and Keyla Salazar, 13, both of San Jose as well as Santa Cruz resident Trevor Irby, 25. The 19-year-old gunman Santino William Legan of Gilroy attended the high school for one year, Eli noted.

But instead of hate and anger, the community and its school district, Gilroy Unified, are all about love, togetherness, compassion and understanding.

"It's kinda surreal what has happened. You don't expect it to happen, especially in a small town. But now we feel closer to one another. I'm thankful," said the teenage boy, who grew up in a family who sings and took it up in third grade. "It feels like the right thing to do."

Through tragedy comes the power of healing. And through song comes healing.

Eli's cohort in the choir, Audrey, couldn't agree more.

"It's definitely exciting and a bit nerve racking given the events that have occurred. But we are coming together and healing through music. You don't expect it will happen here, then it does," said the teen, who was chopping up vegetables until she left the festival an hour before the shooting. Her first thought when she found out what happened was her friends and hit the phone to leave them messages.

"We are coming together and healing through music," she said. She's had a lifetime of practice leading up to the major sporting events, having learned to sing when she "could talk," she admitted.

The school district spokeswoman, Melanie Corona, said Gilroy Unified has looked to the students to be its guiding light in terms of advancing them through this tragedy.

"We had to let the kids set the tone," she said. "They said 'we have to move forward.'"

The message was this close-knit town of agricultural roots was not about "to stay stuck." And that notion rings true with the "Gilroy Strong" mantra.

“We are surrounded by our students and community members who remind us daily that there is so much good in this world. I can’t wait to hear these singers share their gifts with such big audiences, and I know their performances will make Gilroy proud,” Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Deborah A. Flores said.

Continuing with its busy schedule, the Gilroy High School Choir will also perform at the First Congregational Church of San Jose on Sept. 22. The singers will be guest artists for the church’s Sunday service. The First Congregational community prides itself on being an open and affirming congregation, with a focus of peace and activism for marginalized communities. Souza was the director of music there early in his career.

Finally, the chamber singers will join the Christopher High School Choir to perform as guest artists at the West Valley College Choral fall performance, #Resist, on Oct. 25. The concert will focus on social justice through songs of hope and joy for the world.

See also

• Gilroy Garlic Festival Shooting: 3 Victims, Suspect Identified
• Candlelight Vigil Pays Homage To Victims Of Gilroy Shooting
• Gilroy Garlic Festival Vendor Decompressing From Loss
• Duo Injured In Gilroy Festival Shooting 'Happy To Be Alive'
• 3 Heroic Gilroy Officers Who Took Down Suspect Identified
• Candlelight Vigil Brings Gilroy Together
• El Pollo Loco Donating All Aug. 12 Sales To Victims' Families
• Sharks Donate $10K To Gilroy Fund, Host 1st Responder 'Puck Drop'
• Lady Gaga Donates $11K To Gilroy Schools
• At $1 Mill Strong, Gilroy To Play Golf, Eat Pizza At Fundraisers