From singing in church to kicking off the Super Bowl: This Miami chorus gets its day
A new team will be hitting the field at Sunday’s Super Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium, but they won’t be passing the pigskin or packing pads.
Instead, The Children’s Voice Chorus will perform “America the Beautiful” during the pregame entertainment of Super Bowl 54. The chorus will sing with gospel and R&B singer Yolanda Adams, who sang in last year’s finale of “The Voice” on NBC, and perform immediately before Demi Lovato sings the national anthem.
The 40 singers will perform live during the nation’s most watched TV event of the year, normally attracting more than 100 million viewers. Fox will broadcast the game, with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff. (They should sing between 6 and 6:30.)
South Dade Senior High junior Jessica Gutierrez, 17, was floored when she heard the news. It’s the first time she’ll be inside the stadium.
“I am excited. I couldn’t believe it,” said Gutierrez, who lives in Homestead. “I thought she was kidding. I was nervous.”
The students and their chaperones will get to watch the game at Hard Rock Stadium.
“When I told them they were stunned,” said Jamie Perez Sutta, artistic director of the chorus. “There was almost no reaction because they were processing it.”
Sutta, 39, founded the nonprofit to give children, particularly those with less access to the arts, a chance to have their life transformed by music. The community choir, headquartered at Old Cutler Presbyterian Church, has a satellite branch in Florida City, one of the county’s poorer communities.
Sutta knows how the arts can turn one’s life around.
She grew up in New York and moved to West Palm Beach when she was 10. Raised by a single mother, she and her two brothers often faced hardships.
“There were times where we didn’t have hot water or the fridge was empty,” Sutta said. “Sometimes, we would have bread and mayonnaise.”
By high school, she was hanging out with a tough crowd, where kids were dropping out or getting pregnant. Her freshman year in high school, she said, she skipped class almost the entire year.
When she was 13, she joined her high school’s chorus group.
“I was on the wrong path, when I was in high school,” she said. “The program helped me obtain good grades.”
She earned a scholarship to Florida State University, where she graduated with a degree in choral music education. She then earned a master’s in vocal jazz performance from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, launching a career in both teaching and performing.
She has sung with the GDO Soul cover band, performing at former Miami Heat player Chris Bosh’s wedding and the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
And Sutta helped record a music video with her former teaching colleagues at Ocoee Middle School in Orlando, “Gotta Keep Reading,” which went viral. Oprah Winfrey featured it on her show, and the media personality donated money to the school.
By 2011, Sutta founded the chorus, where students learn breathing techniques, how to read music and how to expand their range. Old Cutler Presbyterian donated a room. She’s the assistant music director at the church; her husband, Shawn, is the music director.
The chorus started with 21 singers. Today, The Children’s Voice Chorus has grown to 75, and they’ve performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, AmericanAirlines Arena and Marlins Park.
But not all will sing on Sunday, as the Super Bowl limited the number of choral members to 40, and the singers had to be 10 and over. Sutta chose her best two ensembles and made sure students from the Florida City branch were included.
Entertainment agency Roc Nation contacted Sutta in early January, asking about the Super Bowl. She provided videos of the chorus, and soon after the agency invited the group to perform during the pregame festivities.
The singers have been rehearsing and rehearsing. On Friday, they rehearsed with Adams and Lovato at the stadium.
“She [Lovato] came over to say, ’Hi!’ to the kids,” Sutta said. “That was really exciting.”
Christina Yarbrudy said she is elated for her daughter, Sophia Yabrudy, 12.
“I am beyond excited. I am proud. She has put so much hard work and effort,” said Yarbrudy.
Sophia has been singing since she was 3. Being part of the choir has built her confidence, something that will get a big boost after Sunday’s performance.
“I couldn’t ever imagine this opportunity,” Sophia said. “We went from doing little performances to now live on television.”
Contact information
To contact the Children’s Voice Chorus, go to https://www.thechildrensvoice.org or call 786-216-7003.
This story was originally published February 1, 2020 at 7:00 AM.