Local teen hits high notes at Fenway

By Taryn Plumb
Turley Publications Reporter

STURBRIDGE – A half-hour before game time, the Sturbridge teenager stepped out onto the emerald-manicured field of dreams.
Then, from a spot near the backstop, filled with a tumult of worry and excitement, Joe Conceison watched as 38,106 fans filed into the historic and beloved stadium.
And, promptly at 7 p.m., when the crowd stood and all those sets of eyes were on him, the 17-year-old raised his microphone and began to sing.
About two minutes later, the crowd cut him off in an explosion of cheers, and the Red Sox and Orioles took to the field.
It was July 3, the perfect night for a summer home game, and Conceison was honored with the duty of singing the national anthem at Fenway Park, a pre-game tradition almost as old as baseball itself.
“If I screwed up, I would have been the top hit on YouTube,” joked the Tantasqua senior. But luckily, that's not how things turned out. “I think it went well. I was very happy with how I did.”
It was a distinction – and a resume builder – for a talented teenager who dreams of someday performing on Broadway.
Conceison – a baritone who describes his style as classical, yet versatile – has been singing since he was 8 or 9, and started training in professional voice lessons in sixth grade.
Since, he's been involved with vocal jazz, show choir and choraleers at Tantasqua; he's also represented his school in the Central District Massachusetts chorus, and the All-State chorus for three straight years. Moreover, this year, he was nominated for the prestigious All-East chorus, which will be selected in November.
But what he enjoys most: Musical theater.
He's been in “Rent” and “Guys and Dolls” at Tantasqua, and he played Joseph in the Gateway Players Theater production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” This year, his final year at Tantasqua, he'll again take a lead role as Billy Flynn in “Chicago.”
“I would love to perform on Broadway,” said the teenager, who takes inspiration from Elton John and Billy Joel, and can accompany himself on piano. “It's a bit of a goal, but it's what I'm preparing for now.”
In doing so, he'll attend an auditioned training camp in New York this summer put on by the Broadway Artist Alliance. He's also now looking at various colleges – he hasn't made any decisions yet – where he plans to major in voice or musical theater.
Ultimately, he said, music is “just a part of me. This is my life, and what I love to do. It keeps me busy, definitely makes me happy.”
And how did he get to Fenway?
Well, longtime Red Sox P.A. announcer Carl Beane – known as the “Voice of Fenway Park” – lends his legendary voice to occasional games at Tantasqua. While Conceison, for his part, often sings the anthem at school games.
As Conceison explained, “He found me there.”
The singer was asked to make a CD; it was brought to Red Sox management, which chose him to sing the anthem as part of Fenway's Central Mass. Day festivities.
Leading up to it was a “nerve-racking week,” Conceison acknowledged. He didn't need to practice much, he explained, as he'd sung the anthem so often at school.
So, “It wasn't so much preparation, but trying to calm my nerves,” he explained, noting that he was “excited” and “a little worried.”
The day of – a Saturday – he got to the park at 2 p.m. for a sound check. The 36,000-plus seats at the near-100-year-old, renowned stadium were empty; tour groups sporadically came through.
“Even then, it was an incredible, loud experience,” he remembered.
About five hours later, the stadium teeming with life, he stood behind home plate, focused on the seats directly in front of him, and launched into the anthem.
And, as he sang a classic rendition of the patriotic melody, he focused on the words and his pitch, rather than the immense crowd.
“There were a lot of people, but I couldn't see them all,” he said. “It wasn't overly nerve-racking.”
But it was particularly poignant for his dad and grandfather, both ferocious Red Sox fans, who, as Conceison put it, have been attending games at Fenway “since it was 50 cents to get in.”
Afterwards, they all watched the Red Sox-Orioles bout from seats in the 13th row of the grandstand. (And, if you're wondering, the Red Sox won, 9-3, with Jon Lester on the mound.)
Overall, it was an “incredible experience, a big honor,” Conceison said. “It was a feeling of ‘Wow, I've done something right.’”