By Micah Friez
Published 9:16 am on August 3, 2026
For over two decades, the Bemidji Alumni Choir has performed the national anthem at a Minnesota Twins game each summer.
But this year, for the first time, their performance doubled as an emotional tribute.
Many members of the choir were students of the late Dr. Paul Brandvik, a professor emeritus of vocal music at Bemidji State University who died in December 2025.
“None of us would be here without him,” said 1989 grad Sarah Aamot. “The best way we can honor Paul is to keep doing this. It’s his arrangement of the national anthem, and I can’t imagine singing anything else.”
Aamot co-founded the Bemidji Alumni Choir with Brandvik in 1998. For the first number of years of its existence, Brandvik served as the main director and Aamot as the associate director. Aamot now serves as the director of her own Brainerd-based choir, but there’s still something special about reuniting with fellow Beavers at Target Field — a magnetic force she credits to Brandvik.
“It was heartbreaking for all of us to lose him last December,” Aamot said. “But gosh, from the bottom of my heart, I feel so blessed that everyone keeps coming back together. I thank Paul — and I’ve told him this before — I thank him for everything.”
Over two dozen singers marched out to the outfield warning track on July 24 for this year’s performance. It kicked off this year’s BSU Night at Target Field, where more than 100 alumni and friends gathered to cheer on the Twins, embrace the camaraderie, and enjoy a postgame fireworks show.
Performing the anthem is an exciting opportunity for many, but it’s also a responsibility to be taken seriously.
“Stepping onto the field, it’s like, ‘Holy cow,’” said choir member Bob Green, a 1957 grad. “It feels like we’ve got a real job to do here to sing the anthem for the entire crowd, and to sing it well. That’s what we try to do, and I think we do a pretty good job.”
And, when done right, their performance adds a feather to the cap of the university they represent.
“The fact that we make a good sound, that’s a good advertisement for Bemidji State,” Green said. “It’s absolutely great to do.”
Green predates Brandvik’s era at BSU, instead learning under choir program founder Carl O. Thompson. Both men are revered inside Bangsberg Hall and across campus, and that legacy extends to wherever alumni migrate after they graduate.
“I feel blessed that the alumni choir is still going. But it doesn’t surprise me because of what Brandvik and Thompson taught us,” Aamot said. “Not just about music but how to live. We’ve carried it with us. That’s why we all like to get back together and sing again. It’s one of the closest things you can do with another person.”
