“A lot of people measure success by how much money they make or by the things that they have,” Catherine Donato observed. “I just want to look back on my life and say, ‘I did that – and it was cool.’”
Donato performed a rich, powerful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Wednesday evening’s Red Sox baseball game at Fenway Park.
And the personal and social media response has been that, yes, it was cool.
Donato, a 2014 Bedford High School graduate who sang the national anthem before BHS home football games during her student days, got a call to sing at Fenway just a few days ago after sending a demonstration CD several years ago.
“Going out there, stepping on the field, is overwhelming, and to look up is very stunning, seeing not only the stadium but the people” she reported. “I saw a dear old friend who actually came down to home plate and greeted me, and it really just calmed me right down and I felt everything was meant to be.”
So Donato received the microphone, stepped onto the field, “took a deep breath and let it go.” She noted that she offset the echo that could have been a distraction by wearing earplugs for the first time during a performance.
“When I walked up to my seat pretty much everybody I walked by thanked me and it was pretty rewarding,” Donato said.
Donato, a nursing student at Middlesex Community College, is a professional singer with a seven-member wedding band called KB3. “It’s always a good goal to reach for bigger and maybe better venues—and I usually do small and private venues. But Gillette would be pretty cool,” she laughed.
“People keep asking: would I do it again? Of course, but nothing would be as special. Being able to look back and say, ‘I did that’ — that’s what it’s about to me.”
She expressed thanks to the Bedford community for its support and enthusiasm. “I’m overjoyed,” she declared.
The Red Sox gave Donato and her small entourage complimentary tickets behind home plate. But she confessed that she didn’t stay until the end of the game, which the Red Sox won.
But give her a pass – there was a three-hour rain delay and the last pitch was around 1 a.m.
Editor’s Note: If you have the video of Catherine at Fenway last night, please email it to [email protected] and we’ll add it to this article.
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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Way to go, neighbor!