Video of Sound of USD performing French National Anthem goes viral
A video of the Sound of USD performing a rendition of the French National Anthem before the kickoff of the Nov. 14 home game against South Dakota State University has gone viral, garnering more than 14,000 views on YouTube.
On Nov. 13, terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State group attacked sites throughout Paris, killing 130 people and injuring hundreds more before being killed in a shootout with French security forces. The attacks sparked demonstrations of solidarity with the French people throughout the world, including at the home football game at USD.
The decision to play the Anthem came just hours before the start of the game.
“We agreed it (the playing of the Anthem) would be a good idea to show we support France and we decided we would try to play it an hour before kickoff and if it sounded good, we would play it before our National Anthem,” said Brandon Nutting, a Media & Journalism assistant professor and an assistant to the Sound of USD drum line in an email.
At 9 a.m. Jonathan Alvis, the director of athletic bands at USD, got the OK for the band to perform the piece, but then had to find sheet music so the band could practice before the 1 p.m. kickoff time.
“Dr. Nutting, my grad student and myself were sitting around my computer searching frantically on the Internet to find a band version of the French National Anthem that we could print,” he said.
After finding the music and running through it twice the band was out of time and had to perform on the field.
“The recording that is on YouTube and the performance that everyone heard was the third time we had run it so it was a very quick turnaround so it was kudos to the band,” Alvis said. “They’ve learned to expect anything and they adjust incredibly well.”
The performance of the anthem was a touching gesture for French-born USD student Pauline Dumay.
“I was not expecting that, and when I saw the French flags and I heard them start to do their instruments I started crying,” she said.
Nutting took video of the performance and posted it online. He said based on analytics from the video, it may have been played on a French television news report as well as featured on the website of a French newspaper.
Now it’s going to be used in the French sports television program “L’Equipe 21.”
Marie Courcenet, a researcher with PAD’Lézard, a television production company, said in an email the show will review the year in sports in France and will feature a tribute to those who died during the attacks at the end of the program. She said she found the video on YouTube when she was searching for world-wide sports tributes showing solidarity with the French people.
“It will be a tribute to the victims but also it felt the important to us to show the tributes during other competitions from all over the world,” she said. “The attacks started in Stade de France during a soccer game between France and Germany. They targeted a leisure, a moment where people feel united to their country and where they can relax.”
Courcenet said the montage of videos will remind people in France of the concern felt by people from around the world.
“We want people to remember that sports will always be one of the greatest ways to gather people,” she said.
