I think there's probably been more than enough criticism of Christina Aguilera's rendition of the National Anthem at Sunday's Super Bowl. Perhaps we should move on, and look ahead to next year.
Super Bowl XLVI is in Indianapolis, February 5th, 2012. Nearby is the renowned Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. I would suggest the NFL go local and look no further than right there for their anthem performer(s).
I offer just a partial list of potential performers with ties to the Jacobs School at IU, either as a student, graduate, faculty member, or combination:
Joshua Bell, violinist
Sylvia McNair, soprano
Chris Botti, jazz trumpeter
Edgar Meyer, bassist
Jorja Fleezanis, violinist (former Minnesota Orchestra concertmaster!)
Andre Watts, pianist
Jaime Laredo, violinist/conductor
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
And believe me, that's only a partial list. Surely the NFL could come up with someone (or even better, a combination of people) from this group. C'mon NFL....go local next year!
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