Breanna Sinclairé has become the first transgender woman to sing the national anthem at a professional sporting event.
The history-making event happened Wednesday night at the Oakland Coliseum as Sinclairé belted out the “Star-Spangled Banner” in her powerful soprano, at the A’s LGBT Pride night.
Sinclairé, by her own admission not much of a sports fan admitted that she really enjoyed the experience. “My boyfriend Michael is a baseball fan, and he took me to a Giants game recently,” Sinclairé, 25, said Tuesday. “I really enjoyed myself. I was surprised, since I’ve always been more into the arts. I’ve never really been into sports.”
The classically trained soprano, who has a 4½-octave range, broke new ground before the A’s game with the San Diego Padres, reported SFGate.com. For Sinclairé, a native of Baltimore who is also the first trans graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s classical voice program, it’s been a journey that has included many of the typical hardships of the transgender experience.
“I never thought I’d be here,” the singer said Tuesday. “I’m trying to calm my nerves with meditation, but every time I see that jersey Michael got me to wear tonight, it reminds me I’m going to be singing for 30,000-whatever people. The biggest audience I’ve had before is 1,000, so you see where the nerves come from.”
