Renowned mezzo-soprano and Shocker alumna Joyce DiDonato ’92 said she wasn’t nervous before performing the national anthem Oct. 29 at Game 7 of the World Series.
But after singing her heartfelt and beautiful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” she reported, “My heart won’t stop beating. It was one of those moments I’ll never, never, never forget.”
Major League Baseball contacted the Grammy winner just days before Game 7 to tell her she had been tapped to sing.
DiDonato, who grew up in Prairie Village, Kan., flew into Kansas City from New York City just hours before walking onto the field at Kauffman Stadium. DiDonato credits her friend, Beth Munce, with making the unforgettable gig possible. Munce started the #LetJoyceSing social media campaign, generating support — including WSU Alumni Association social media pushes — and garnering coverage from national and international news outlets.
She posted a thank-you video to YouTube a couple of days before her performance, thanking her “boisterous, fabulous and passionate” fans for helping secure the opportunity for her. It was a dream engagement, she told the New York Times, for a woman who held a cherished memory from the late 1970s, of her father saving his money to take his children out for a day at the ballpark.
