Thirty-five thousand pairs of ears listened to him and dozens of cameras aimed at him, delivering his every action to thousands more watching from home.
Calvin Griffin, a fourth-year in vocal performance from Worthington, sang the national anthem at the Democratic rally on the Oval featuring President Barack Obama on Oct. 17. During his performance, Griffin felt something unfamiliar — he was nervous.
“It was amazing, almost surreal,” Griffin said. “I don’t usually get nervous, but I got nervous, mainly because you can’t mess those words up because everyone will know.”
Although Griffin has sung the national anthem at other events, such as high school football games and a memorial service for a senator, singing for the president was a new experience.
Griffin’s resume, full of operas and opera apprentice programs, reveals his classical training. The operas are usually in a different language, he said, so no one knows if he misses a word.
“Once in a while, you’ll forget and you have to scramble,” Griffin said. “There’s no scrambling with ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.'”
Despite his nerves, he never stumbled.
“He is one of the several singers in the vocal program at OSU that on any given day at any venue internationally could sing the national anthem and represent the United States in a very positive way,” said Patrick Woliver, Griffin’s voice teacher.
Andrew Garner, Griffin’s best friend and a fourth-year in music education, said Griffin’s national anthem rendition was indicative of how he performs everything.
“His musicianship is impeccable,” Garner said. “I don’t know anyone who knows his stuff better than he does.”
Griffin and Garner met as first-year students in Ohio State’s Men’s Glee Club.
“He has a ton of natural talent and he’s just a hard worker on top of that,” Garner said. “He’s so driven and focused on what he wants to do professionally but he can still turn it off and make time for me, his best friend.”
Woliver tells his students that mental preparation is key to a successful performance. The singer must focus on delivering the message rather than being worried about the environment, he said.
“Calvin’s a type of performer that gives 100 percent of himself,” Woliver said. “He’s delivering a message that, whether it’s for Obama or the 6-year-old child that happened to be holding his grandfather’s hand at the rally, it’s an equal opportunity of giving.”
Griffin was chosen after university representatives involved in organizing the Obama rally contacted Karen Bell, vice president of the arts initiative at OSU, and her publicity person, Victoria Elwood, contacted the music department to find someone to sing the national anthem.
Woliver said Griffin was an obvious choice to sing for the president because of Griffin’s recent successes.
Griffin was chosen as one of three winners in the District Metropolitan Opera auditions held in Cincinnati two days before Woliver asked him to sing the national anthem. The ultimate goal of the competition is to be an apprentice at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
Griffin will perform at the regional audition in Chicago on Sunday. If selected, he will proceed to New York City as a semifinalist in the national auditions.
“People who know opera know that that’s a big deal,” Garner said. “It’s a matter of PR for him … his audition will be seen by the top opera people in the country.”
Griffin is already well-known in Columbus.
“I’m a big fan of Calvin,” said Leo Welsh, the Columbus Blue Jackets anthem singer and a member of Opera Columbus. Welsh said Griffin is on the fast track to becoming one of the best bass-baritones in the country.
“He has an incredible work ethic and no ego. That’s very rare in this business,” said Emily Holsclaw, Griffin’s girlfriend and a second-year master’s student in music and vocal performance. “He’s very humble. He doesn’t go in expecting to win. He just goes in to sing and offers music to people.”
Griffin’s parents, Jane and Larry Griffin, who teach in the Worthington School District, heard him sing at the rally. Jane is a music teacher at Worthingway Middle School, and Larry is the high school choir director at Worthington Kilbourne.
Griffin was in his father’s choir class throughout high school.
“Since early elementary, he was always performing,” Larry said. “We all knew he’d probably go into music.”
Griffin is in the process of applying to graduate programs at schools including the Juilliard School, the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, and Rice University.
“He’s in it for the art form. He’s in it for the music. He’s very genuine,” Jane said. “I think it’ll take him very far.”
