{"id":1641,"date":"2019-02-28T01:50:56","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T05:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/?p=1641"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:34:13","slug":"oh-say-can-she-sing-the-national-anthem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/oh-say-can-she-sing-the-national-anthem\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cOh, say\u201d Can She Sing the National Anthem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
2010 alumna Chanda Brown-Wilson<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

2010 alumna performs at Homecoming 2019<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Thursday, February 28, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basketball fans who were in their Hytche Athletic Center seats early to take in the 2019 homecoming games Feb. 16 against Coppin State were treated to a rare, live performance of the national anthem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chanda Brown-Wilson, UMES class of 2010, sang \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d a cappella,<\/em> creating an instant buzz among fellow alums and adding to her growing resum\u00e9 of public performances of the tricky song. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year ago, Brown-Wilson answered an open audition call by the Washington Nationals baseball team, which gives polished local singers a chance to perform the pre-game tradition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She impressed the judges and earned the chance to appear on the field at an early season game April 9, a performance that boosted her confidence to pursue singing professionally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With support and guidance from friend Kris Hicks, who posted a recording of the 2018 baseball game performance on social media, Brown-Wilson has since done encores at other public events, including D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s inauguration and the National Park Service’s 2018 Juneteenth celebration on Theodore Roosevelt Island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose were all pretty exciting opportunities,\u201d Brown-Wilson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does being invited to sing for a UMES homecoming rank? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPretty high. I’m excited,\u201d she said before rehearsal.  \u201cI’ve always been someone who enjoyed singing along at sporting events,\u201d especially at UMES volleyball matches when she was an undergraduate majoring in math. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown-Wilson, who lives in Clinton, Md., delivered a flawless rendition at homecoming, drawing a robust round of applause from an appreciative audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singing has been a part of her life since her youth; she attended Suitland (Md.) High School because it had a performing arts magnet program with voice training and continued singing while a UMES student under the tutelage of Dr. Sheila Harleston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe was very nurturing, and concerned for each student,\u201d Brown-Wilson said of Harleston.  \u201cShe took the time to explain the content of the music, which I really appreciate.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown-Wilson, who has worked in business development and is a praise and worship leader at the historic Metropolitan Baptist Church in Largo, Md., describes her national anthem singing style as a mix of gospel and inspirational.  The goal is to deliver it in about two minutes \u2026 \u201cgive or take.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s not as easy as it may sound,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to be known for producing quality work.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UMES alumni at Homecoming 2019 would say she delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

 Photo by Joey Gardner<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2010 alumna performs at Homecoming 2019 Thursday, February 28, 2019 Basketball fans who were in their Hytche Athletic Center seats early to take in the 2019 homecoming games Feb. 16 against Coppin State were treated to a rare, live performance of the national anthem.  Chanda Brown-Wilson, UMES class of 2010, sang \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d a cappella, creating…Read more \u201cOh, say\u201d Can She Sing the National Anthem<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-1641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1641"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=1641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}