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Just Who Is This Opera Star Singing At The World Series Tonight?

Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who is singing the national anthem at Game 7 of the World Series tonight in Kansas City, Mo.
Simon Pauly
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Courtesy of the artist
Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who is singing the national anthem at Game 7 of the World Series tonight in Kansas City, Mo.

Maybe this trajectory mirrors the Kansas City Royals' unlikely road to the pennant: An opera star beats out much more mainstream artists to sing the national anthem at the decisive World Series Game 7.

After a viral campaign called #LetJoyceSing emerged on Twitter, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato was tapped to sing. (Is this a new trend, the melding of the opera stage and the big leagues? Think back: Renee Fleming sang at the Super Bowl in January.)

Just as she's a big fan of the Royals, we're huge fans of hers — not only does she have an incredible voice, she's a natural presence onstage and off. So toi, toi, toi, Joyce! We're rooting for you.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Anastasia Tsioulcas is a reporter on NPR's Arts desk. She is intensely interested in the arts at the intersection of culture, politics, economics and identity, and primarily reports on music. Recently, she has extensively covered gender issues and #MeToo in the music industry, including backstage tumult and alleged secret deals in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against megastar singer Plácido Domingo; gender inequity issues at the Grammy Awards and the myriad accusations of sexual misconduct against singer R. Kelly.
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