Dr. Eric Conway writes:
Hello Morgan Fine Arts Community,
Given
that Morgan State University was a proud sponsor of the Baltimore
Ravens football game today against the Los Angeles Chargers, the MSU
choir sang the national anthem for the game! Surprising to most, this
was the first time the Morgan choir had ever sung the anthem for a
Ravens game. Given NFL policy states that all persons must sign an
affidavit positively affirming COVID vaccinated status, I had the task
of picking fifteen choir members from the hundred plus on the choir, who
could comply with the NFL COVID policy.
We
left campus at 9AM to arrive early for a soundcheck before the stadium
opened to the public! Upon arrival we were given Ravens credentials to
get onto the field. We had to be off the field by 10:30AM for both
teams to take field for their warm-up time before the game. After our
warm-up, we took a group photo on the field, and were escorted to the
tented area with refreshments.
To
be early on a Sunday morning, everyone around the stadium was as
cheerful as could be! It was certainly a beautiful day today! Because
of the Morgan sponsorship, there were probably more Morgan alumni in the
stadium than is typical. I saw several Morgan alums who were attending
the game, working at the stadium, or playing in the Ravens Marching
Band.
I
spoke with the Ravens Marching band president, John Ziemann, who told
me to keep sending the Morgan musicians to the band, as they have done
quite well in the organization. Although the Morgan Marching band has
played with the Ravens Marching band in the past, unfortunately, he and
Melvin Miles, Morgan band director, were not able to align schedules
this time around to rehearse the two bands together for today’s game.
You
will see pics of the choir waiting to go onto the field, seeing the
Marching band precede us. We happened to enter out of the tunnel, on
the side with the L.A. Chargers, so we saw them parade past us prior to
our entrance!
It
was great to hear “Morgan State University” announced so many times
during the game! At least twice a quarter, highlights from the game
would be shown on the big screen with the Morgan trademark conspicuously
shown!
The
choir has performed many places over the years, but this stadium of
fans certainly was the largest live public performance that we have ever
enjoyed. Of course, as you can imagine, it is challenging to sing in a
stadium with the slow speed of acoustics in a space as large as M&T
stadium. I must say the anthem went very well. A choir member texted
me a few audience reactions to our performance below.
Although
the anthem takes a little more than a minute and a half to sing, we
all agreed that we were very exhausted after the performance. We were
all given great seats to see the game after we performed. We enjoyed a
commanding football performance by our Baltimore Ravens - leading to a
conference leading 5-1 record. We thoroughly enjoyed the day!
See pics attached from our day. Also see links to videos of our performance: from the stands and from the field.
EC
Comments after the performance from fans in the stadium:
"A
woman just came up to me and told me that she and her husband have been
season ticket holders for years now and they both agreed that that was
the best rendition of the star spangled banner they’ve heard here!"
"Another lady just told me she got emotional during it."
Pregame fun:
Ravens Marching band arrival
Morgan choir anthem performance from the stands:
Morgan choir anthem performance from the field:
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