No microphones, no stage, no gimmicks.

Standing before a music stand and a piano in a small rehearsal room in the Katzen Arts Center on March 6, 18 student singers vied for the chance to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” at one of five ceremonies during AU’s 147th commencement, May 10–11.

“Go for it,” instructed CAS professor Dan Abraham, chair of the Department of Performing Arts, as he sat at a piano with his laptop.

“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light . . .”

Whether singing with their hands raised high or their eyes closed, each vocalist put their own spin on the historic tune. The five singers who were selected are:

• Kogod School of Business and Professional Studies: Bryn Underwood, Kogod/BS ’24, SOC/MA ’26
• School of Public Affairs: Austin Zielenbach, SPA/BA ’24
• School of International Service: Jasmin Edrington, SIS/BA ’24
• College of Arts and Sciences: Luke Stowell, CAS/BA ’24
• School of Communication and School of Education: Emily Brignand, SIS/BA ’24

A challenging melody

AU has held spring auditions for the national anthem—open to every graduating student—since 2009. Over the years, Abraham has listened to the 210-year-old tune sung hundreds of times—just for him.

Despite the ubiquity of the national anthem, performing the song written by amateur poet Francis Scott Key some 40 miles from campus at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry isn’t an easy task.

“It’s a highly disjunct melody,” Abraham said, one that rise and falls quickly with large intervals between one note and the next. “It leaps quite a bit.”

Abraham said that he looks for singers to avoid two major pitfalls: forgetting the words and singing off key. Falling victim to either has led to some of the most famous national anthem fails of all time.

As she stepped into the audition, Edrington, the first student to audition, “was definitely feeling nervous because it’s so hard to sing,” she said. “I’m an alto, so I sing lower in choirs and in music. The anthem is not typically made for an alto.”

American Idols

As a Black woman, Edrington has a complicated relationship with the national anthem.

But as the auditions approached, she decided to sign up after her mom encouraged her to go for it. As she sang in the key of G, she thought of her parents.

“[They] encouraged me to do things like this and they’re always supportive,” Edrington said. “I’m really singing to them.”

Underwood learned she loved to sing while watching Blues Clues with her twin sister.

“We would pretty much take any opportunity to go and sing in front of people,” she said.

From piano lessons to church choir to musical theater, she stayed connected to music through high school. When she got to AU, the field hockey player began singing the national anthem at many of AU Athletics home games, including her own. 

“I’ve done pretty much every sport except volleyball,” Underwood said. The opportunity to sing the anthem one last time felt right.

Zielenbach said she hoped singing the national anthem could bookend her time at AU. She came to AU as a musical theater major but switched to justice and law. Throughout her time on campus, she stayed connected to her musical roots through an a capella group and choir classes.

“I sang the national anthem for my high school graduation,” she said. “That’s probably the biggest audience I’ve ever performed in front of, and it was really cool. I was hoping that I could do it for college graduation too because that would trump my high school graduation.”