11-Year-Old Twins to Sing National Anthem at Dragons Opening Day
11-Year-Old Springboro Twins Natalie and Anna Mussin Phillips to Sing National Anthem at Dragons Opening Day Game on April 12
11-Year-Old Twins to Sing National Anthem at Dragons Opening Day
Natalie and Anna Mussin Phillips, 11-year-old twin sisters from Springboro, have been selected as the winners of the Dayton Daily News/Dayton Dragons national anthem contest. The young girls will sing in front of a sell-out crowd at Fifth Third Field on Opening Day, April 12. The Dragons will host the South Bend Cubs at 4:00 p.m. as they open their 16th home season in Dayton.
Natalie and Anna were selected from a group of more than 300 who auditioned to perform the National Anthem at Dragons games this season. Finalists from the group who auditioned will perform at other Dragons games. The team plays 70 home games at Fifth Third Field in 2015.
According to the father of the twins, Mark Phillips, Natalie and Anna have been frequent performers at the Town Hall Theatre in Centerville, appearing in 18 productions over the last four years. Natalie recently played the lead role of Jeremy Jacob in How I Became a Pirate while Anna played Flounder in Little Mermaid.
“They first began performing in first grade in a classroom production,” said Mark Phillips. “They were in the Kettering Children’s Choir for a year.”
Both girls also play multiple instruments. Natalie plays the piano, banjo, violin, and drums. Anna plays the piano, guitar (both electric and acoustic), flute, and cello. The family was thrilled to learn that the twins had been selected to perform on Opening Day.
“I told them after their audition that I was confident that they would be chosen for one of the 70 games, but when we got the news that it would be the first game, it was unbelievable,” said Mark. “We spent the rest of the day making calls to relatives and friends.”
Mark says it is too early to determine whether either girl will go into a musical career. “Anna wants to be a veterinarian and Natalie wants to be a rocket scientist for NASA.”
The Dragons conduct national anthem try-outs every year in front of a live audience at the Dayton Mall and the Mall at Fairfield Commons. The Dayton Daily News has served as the sponsor for all 16 years of auditions. Each year, all 300 available time slots to perform over the two-day audition process have been filled through a pre-registration process, and additional performers have also auditioned on a stand-by basis, bringing the annual number of performers to around 350. Auditions are judged by a panel of community leaders including representatives from the Dayton Daily News.
