The Spud players await their entrance onto Target Field.
Nancy Edmonds Hanson
You could say that Moorhead’s middle school orchestra was a major-league hit Aug. 11 at Target Field.
That’s the day that more than 1,000 local residents got up before dawn to troupe down to Minneapolis – not just to watch the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0, but to cheer on the 295 young musicians of Horizon Middle School as they played the national anthem with TV sportscaster Audra Martin.
“The kids were great. They were fantastic,” orchestra director Brian Cole reports. “One of the ushers grabbed my arm afterwards and told me, ‘I’ll have you know I’ve heard a lot of national anthems in my day. But this was the first that brought tears to my eyes.’”
Trips to Target Field have been a triennial tradition for the Moorhead string contingent, which numbered 295 strong on the occasion. “The Twins first invited us down to play in 2011,” Cole says. “It’s been an every-three-year thing ever since so that every middle-schooler gets a chance to play before a game.” He adds, “I’m in my 50s and it’s still a thrill to be on a major-league ballfield. If I was a kid, I think I would have gone crazy.”
Last summer would have been their fourth trip, but Covid-19 intervened. Instead, they accepted when the ball club’s management contacted them early this year. Meanwhile, though, an extra-special opportunity popped up to make it even more special.
Student Nate Heinrichs caught a segment online in which Audra, a popular personality on Bally Sports North who offers sideline game commentary for the Minnesota Wild and the Twins, was quarantined at home playing her violin. She remarked that she’d always dreamed of playing the “Star-Spangled Banner” at a game.
“Nate asked if we could invite her, and I was in,” Cole says. He contacted the reporter. She texted back on the spot.
The Moorhead director arranged with Sportland to make Audra her own version of the orchestra’s signature black-and-orange hockey jerseys. They presented it to her before the broadcast along with a small Spuddy mascot. (She says her cat loves it.)
When the huge Spud contingent lined up in four rows of 75 to 80 musicians, it took more than Cole to lead them. Retired conductor Doug Neill and new leader Josh Biles each climbed a ladder, along with Cole, to direct the stirring rendition.
It was a long day for the teens, who left town on five buses at 6 a.m. and were home by 7:30. Each was instructed to bring two sack lunches to tide them over; their admission tickets were also preloaded with $5 to spend in the stadium. When they arrived, they learned it was Dollar Hot Dog Day. Some older boys were soon seen munching three or four hot dogs each.
Their three minutes on national television was a time the young musicians will never forget, Cole says. One told him afterwards, “I felt like a rock star!” They really were “rock stars,” he notes, both in how well they played and how they comported themselves.
“I couldn’t have been prouder of our kids – how they played, and how well they represented our city.”
There’s still time for incoming fifth graders to sign up for Horizon’s beginning band, choir and orchestra programs. Practices begin the first week of school. To enroll and for more information, email bcole@moorheadschools.org.
