Community Corner

SPHS Student Wins Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Competition

Erin Paxton, a rising senior at Severna Park High School will sing the National Anthem with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on July 4.

Hundreds of people will gather at Oregon Ridge this Fourth of July for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s (BSO) “Star-Spangled Spectacular,” and they will have the pleasure of hearing a Severna Park High School student sing the National Anthem. 

Erin Paxton, a rising senior at Severna Park, won the BSO’s annual “O, Say Can You Sing” competition. Paxton competed against more than 20 other vocalists and won the opportunity to sing the National Anthem July 4. 

Paxton found out she had won only an hour after she auditioned.

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“I was surprised just because there were a lot of kids there that looked like they knew what they were doing,” Paxton said. “I didn’t know if I would stand out or not, so I was excited to have won.”

The local community may recognize Paxton from her role at Eponine in Severna Park High’s presentation Les Miserables last fall. Paxton is also the president on the school’s Thespian Society.

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The 17-year-old is no stranger to singing the National Anthem. She has performed the Star Spangled Banner at school basketball games, her sister’s swim meets and even a Bowie Baysox game. However, despite her diverse background in music, she said that’s the one performance she gets the most nervous for.

“I think the National Anthem is the most nerve wrecking because it is just really, really hard,” Paxton said. “When you sing the National Anthem you have a standard to live up to because it is such an important song to be able to sing.”

For more than 20 years the “Star-Spangled Spectacular” at Oregon Ridge has been a summer tradition for many Baltimore-area families. Paxton said she is just excited to be a part of that, and for the fireworks show after.

As for her future, Paxton hopes it’s filled with many more opportunities to perform.

“Right now I am looking to audition at colleges to major musical theater,” she said. “Of course the ultimate goal would be to get to Broadway, but really just the ability to wake up everyday and be able to perform is all that I am really looking for.”


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