On April 8, almost six months after the Phillies won their second World Series Championship, the City of Brotherly Love gathered for the long awaited ring ceremony which was held before the third game of the season, before playing the Atlanta Braves.
There to help celebrate the special occasion was the Millersville University Choir and a few members of the University Chorale, who was honored with singing the national anthem preceding the ceremony.
Among the 85 choir members in attendance, Millersville student, Aj Walker was a veteran to this experience, having sung the national anthem at Phillies games several times before as a part of the Philadelphia Boys choir and in 2004 with the MU choir.
When the MU Men’s choir performed in 2004 in which Walker conducted, they became the first choir to sing the anthem at Citizen’s Bank Park.
This year, it took several months for this to happen for the choir when Walker submitted a CD five months ago, and was later contacted back informing him that the choir was accepted to be a part of singing the anthem before the game.
He was given a list of dates from which they could choose from and picked April 8, which was also Walker’s birthday.
To prepare for the event, the choir sold tickets to the game for friends and family, advertised around the community, and for the big day they practiced outside to get the feel for the atmosphere they’d be performing in.
But nothing could prepare them for the actual experience.
“The most exciting part this time was the hype of the event and while we were singing the anthem during the line ‘rockets red glare,’ fireworks went off and that was just really cool, especially to see the look on everyone in the choirs face when it happened,” said Walker
It was sophomore, Kevin Dea’s first attendance as a performer for the choir at a Phillies game.
Dea, being a “Philly Phanatic” himself was really hyped for the event.
“It was really exciting singing in front of such a large crowd, and just the fact that I was standing on the field because I am a huge Phillies fan.”
The large crowd filled about 40,000 seats for last Wednesday’s game against the Braves.
The Philadelphia Phillies didn’t let their fans down and scored eight runs in the seventh inning, four scoring on bases-loaded walks, according to mlb.com.
With a victory and their new rings on their finger, they continued to look like champions.
The choir, their friends and family, who had a reserved section in the stadium to watch the game, was there to witness it and be a part of history.
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