Frank Ohl choir to sing at PNC Park April 22

Frank Ohl 5th Grade Choir

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The 90 member Frank Ohl School 5th Grade Choir from Austintown will sing the national anthem at an upcoming Pittsburgh Pirates game.

By Elise Franco

efranco@vindy.com

Austintown

The day the Frank Ohl fifth grade choir has been waiting for is almost here.

On April 22, Dan Forsberg, choir instructor at Frank Ohl Intermediate School, and the 90 choir members will head to PNC Park in Pittsburgh, where they’ll sing the National Anthem to open a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game.

Forsberg said this will be the fourth time the ball park has invited the choir to sing.

“I made contact with PNC Park a few years back,” he said. “They had me send a tape down ... After the first year they kept inviting us back.”

Forsberg said the choir, whose students give up recess to rehearse, began practicing the National Anthem on the first day of school and can now sing the song with several harmonies added in.

“We start on day one and during almost every rehearsal we hit it again,” he said. “They’re just awesome, and they can do anything you say they can do.”

Principal Dennis Rice said for the students the experience of singing at center field of a major league baseball stadium is worth the hard work.

“This is literally what they work for all year long,” he said. “They have the opportunity to perform for more than 20,000 people.”

Molly Delmont, 11, said she loves the choir and can’t wait to sing at PNC Park.

“Singing has been a part of my life since I was born,” she said. “I’m excited about this because we’ll be able to show our talent. Every single one of us has talent.”

Delmont said she and her classmates have been rehearsing constantly to make sure they get it right on the big day.

“We’ve been working really hard,” she said. “And we sound wonderful because of our inspiring director, Mr. Forsberg.”

Forsberg said his satisfaction comes from seeing his students’ reactions when they sing the first few notes of the song.

“I just wait for their mouths to fall open when they hear their voices come through that sound system,” he said. “That’s the exciting thing too, when you’re standing in a major league ball park and singing our National Anthem.”

He added: “I get goose bumps just thinking about it.”