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Warren High School bass choir to perform at Cleveland Cavaliers game

Photo by Chad Plauche-Adkins Mary Nuzum directs the Warren High School’s bass chorus Friday in the school’s auditorium. They will be performing at a Cleveland Cavaliers game today.

VINCENT — Warren High School’s bass chorus will be displaying its talents for the world to see at the Cleveland Cavaliers game tonight.

Mary Nuzum, choral and hand bell director, said the trip to Cleveland is becoming an annual tradition.

“This is the fifth year in a row we’ve done this,” she said.

Originally, Nuzum said the Cavaliers organization reached out to her for a demo tape and video as part of their approval process. She said they have to submit one every year to be eligible to sing at the Quicken Loans Arena.

Nuzum said the chorus will be singing the national anthem at the beginning of the game for both the U.S. and Canada. For the second year in a row, the visiting team will be the Toronto Raptors, which makes the singing of the Canadian anthem a required part of the proceedings

“We are one of the only schools that get to do this,” she said. “Usually big name people do it.”

Nuzum said the 30-boy chorus is a mixture of different grades at the school that produces an amazing sound. She said the chorus practices five hours a week to prepare for performances like this one.

“We have an amazing group of young men…They’ve worked very hard for this. Naturally, they are very excited,” she said.

George Jeffers III, a senior, said even though there were plenty of new faces in the chorus this year, they will still put on the best show of his tenure.

“We are the freshest of all three years I’ve been in the chorus,” he said. “We are really good for how young we are.”

Two first- year members of the bass chorus, J.T. French, a sophomore, and Gabriel Hendrix, a freshman, said the reputation of the chorus is what enticed them to join.

“Everybody said it was fun, and you get to travel a lot,” said Hendrix.

French said he’s looking forward to the performance, regardless of his butterflies.

“It’s going to be an experience for sure,” he said. “I’m nervous from a lack of experience, but I’m not scared.”

Nuzum said walking into the more than 20,000 person arena can be both a daunting and exciting moment.

“It is awesome. You get cold chills when you’re out there,” she said. “You’re basically rubbing shoulders with the players before the game.”

The game will be played today at 7 p.m., and it will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio.

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