Urbana's Burgess readies for the big stage

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URBANA — Music has long been a passion for Jaiden Burgess.

Church choirs, school trips to Florida and Urbana High School athletic events are some of the places that the UHS senior has performed over the years.

"I have always loved music," Burgess said. "I've always loved singing. It's always been one of my favorite things to do. I've always loved writing my own songs, singing with people and sharing things. Music is one of my favorite things."

But performing the national anthem at State Farm Center with thousands looking on?

That will be new for Burgess, who will sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" this Thursday and Friday at 6:30 p.m. at State Farm Center during the IHSA boys' basketball state finals.

"I'm really excited," Burgess said. "It's a really big opportunity that I honestly didn't expect to get, is the truth."

It's a fitting stage for Burgess, whose love of music began at a young age.

"My first solo that I ever sang was at a church when I was nine," Burgess said. "It was like third grade, I remember being so terrified. I've always been into choirs and things."

Those early experiences eventually compelled Burgess to write their own songs. Things are going well on that front; "Me Too" released on streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify last September and "Keep it to Myself" was released on March 1.

Burgess and their classmates were quick to make up for lost time after arriving in high school, especially after lasting effects from the COVID-19 pandemic turned their freshman year upside-down.

"We've done a lot of theater together," fellow senior V Bechtel said. "We're in a capella. It's just like all of the music, theater, anything that's adjacent to music or theater, those are the things that we do."

IHSA selects national anthem vocalists for its basketball and girls' volleyball state finals in conjunction with the Illinois Music Educators Association; winners from each of the organization's nine districts are chosen to perform.

Urbana was going to have an anthem singer either way once it came down to the IMEA district finals; Burgess was the winner and Bechtel was the runner-up.

"I'm very, very happy this year of having another person to go through an all-state experience with," Burgess said. "It was really good to have someone there in your corner the entire time."

It's no surprise that Burgess and Bechtel — who heavily involve themselves in Urbana's performing arts classes — found themselves in a position to perform on the state stage.

They'd both been on that literal stage before; Urbana's choir performed at State Farm Center with Foreigner on Oct. 22 after winning a contest presented by Lite Rock 97.5-FM.

"I think the goal is to just throw them in front of as many people as possible and get as many opportunities as possible so that they're not as scared or nervous when it comes to opportunities," Urbana choir director Becky Park said.

Burgess' performance at State Farm Center will be their second act with basketball this season.

They previously sang the national anthem at an Urbana girls' basketball game.

"I'm not really scared of singing in front of crowds anymore because I do it a lot," Burgess said. "It was like the first time that I had ever done something at a game or anything, so it was an interesting environment that I wasn't used to."

Practice makes perfect, especially for such a technical song.

"It is a beast of a song," Park said. "They both felt really good about their auditions and felt like they did the best that they could and that's what we always teach here, is that you've got to give your best and let the forces decide what's going to happen after that."

Plenty of familiar faces will be in the crowd when Burgess belts the first lines of the song.

That will mark the culmination of a journey that has brought Burgess and Bechtel closer since auditions began in October.

"I've considered you a friend for a really long time but I think this has brought us a lot closer together," Burgess told Bechtel.