On Monday night, March 3, Branson Girls A Cappella performed the national anthem at Chase Center before the Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Clippers NBA game.

Sophie Conte ’27, leader of the group, described the opportunity as both exciting and rare for high school students.

“Everyone was super excited because it was a really unique experience for people our age to have. And we all felt very lucky and grateful to be there,” said Conte. 

While the group felt confident in the national anthem itself, performing at center court in front of approximately 18,000 fans presented a different kind of challenge

“In terms of preparation, we practiced a couple of times, but we have performed the national anthem at multiple smaller venues before, so the only hurdle we had to get over was the nerves of performing in front of such a large crowd,” said Conte.

For many members, the most surreal part of the evening was stepping onto a court they had watched on television for years. Maddie Jefferson ’26 reflected on the moment.

“It was super surreal to be on the court with people whom I watch play on TV all the time. I got to see the players up close, and it was so cool. We were literally standing on the court with these super-talented, famous people,” said Jefferson. 

Despite a few sacrifices they had to make, the experience was well worth it, according to Yasmin Charkin ‘26, another Girls A Capalla leader. 

“We got there really early, right after school. We had one sound check, and then we waited for hours to go on stage for like ten seconds, but it was so worth it when we saw the crowd of like 10,000 people and to see ourselves on the big screen,” said Charkin.