Take My Voice Out to the Ballpark

Perry Hall High School Chorus

Music teacher Jeff Beyers directs his Patapsco High School students as they sing the national anthem before the May 12 Orioles game

 

Wouldnt it be cool to sing the national anthem in front of a large group? Well, two area high schools recently sent its music departments to Oriole Park at Camden Yards to sing the national anthem. Patapsco Music Teacher Jeff Beyers and his students headed down to Oriole Park on Tuesday, May 12. The Orioles took on and defeated the Tampa Rays. Beyers said his group has sang for the Governor and for Michael Phelps, but singing the national anthem in front of the fans at Orioles Park made it a special night. It was a blast. It was one of my great highlights here at Patapsco, Beyer said. Patapsco also performed back in 2007. Taylor Clough is the president of the Patapsco Chamber Choir and performed two years ago when she was a sophomore. I was excited because it was a good atmosphere and the weather was better this time than two years ago, she recalled. Beyers was impressed when one of his students challenged the group to improve their performance when their practice session sounded mediocre. We usually warm-up three times before a performance, but one of our students, Jamie Dix, thought we needed (to practice) one more time. She said, Guys, we need to do better. We need to sing it again and we did sing it for a fourth time. We really needed that, Beyers explained. The Patapsco students received another thrill when they were in the club area and saw two younger men playing ping-pong. Then Beyers realized these weren't too average men. They were so well prepared, but they were excited when they saw Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts playing ping-pong. That helped inspire them. The Patapsco students were so stunned to see the Oriole stars that they didn't even have time to take a picture on their cell phones. It was very cool. We didn't have time to talk, but they acknowledged us, Clough added. Patapsco was not the only school to sing the national anthem at an Oriole game. Perry Hall High School sent their Chamber Choir to perform five days earlier on Thursday, May 7 before the Orioles played Minnesota. It's something our student have looked forward to for a long time, said Perry Hall Music Department Chair Carol Dissmeyer, who has been a teacher for 25 years. Dissmeyers group also performed a few years ago. For the first time tryout, an individual or group must send in a video performance of singing The Star Spangled Banner.After the group performs and does well, they are usually asked back two years later. Apparently Perry Hall and Patapsco were impressive before because they were both invited back. They know what to expect from us, Dissmeyer said.