By Clark Judge
(September 15, 2024) — As part of a family that followed the Yankees “for generations,” 13-year-old Emma Castiglioni didn’t have a choice of Major League Baseball teams. It was the Yankees or no one. Same with her brother. Same with her sister. So when the Yankees last month notified Emma that she could bring her friends and family to a game at Yankee Stadium, she was overjoyed.
“I think my jaw dropped,” she said.
Only one catch: They wouldn’t be there to see the Yankees. They’d be there to see Emma.
Confused? You should be.
So let’s clear things up. Emma Castiglioni is a Haddam-Killingworth High School freshman who, over the past two years, has sung the National Anthem so many times locally that she admitted, “I’ve lost count.” But she’d never sung at a venue as big or as significant as Yankee Stadium … that is, until her father inquired about it back in March and discovered that, yes, as a matter a fact, she could play there, too. So he consulted with his wife, Nicole, and together they sat down with Emma to ask if she’d be interested.
She was.
“Obviously, I’m doing it,” she answered. “I get to sing in front of Aaron Judge.”
True. But she also got to sing in front of his teammates and more than 40,000 of their closest friends for an August 20, 2024 game with Cleveland. The Yanks drew 41,426 customers that evening and dropped a 9-5 decision. That’s the bad news. And the good? Emma breezed through “The Star Spangled Banner” without a hitch, drawing a loud and prolonged ovation afterward.
“I think that was probably the most nervous moment of my life,” she confessed. “That and the first Little League game I sang at. They’re kind of the same thing.”
Wait. The first … Little … League … game? That demands an explanation, too. You see, Emma has become something of a familiar figure in Killingworth. She sang the National Anthem the past two Memorial Days in front of the town’s Congregational Church and was there again on August 3, 2024 to sing the anthem prior to the annual Killingworth Road Race.
She’s sung the past two summers at Hartford Yard Goats games. She’s sung at Middle School wrestling matches and basketball games, too. And she’s performed in school plays and musicals … the Guilford Porchfest … Crescendo Music Loft in Madison … Blue Fire Stage Company … H-K Middle School Memorial Day assembly … the HKMS Unified Sports event and … well, her brother’s T-ball game in Haddam. That was a couple of years ago when she made her first public appearance by volunteering to sing the National Anthem prior to a Little League game.
“It wasn’t as big as Yankee Stadium,” she said, “but I was equally nervous. It was my first time ever doing it in front of people, and I didn’t know if I could remember the lyrics or how it would work out.”
It worked out perfectly. She remembered the lyrics, her audience was pleased and, within two years, she graduated from Jail Hill in Haddam to the House That Ruth Built in the Bronx. Arriving at the stadium with her family at 2:00 p.m., she was escorted to the field within a half-hour for sound checks, later had lunch at the stadium’s Hard Rock Cafe, then was holed up for two hours with her Mom in the “Green Room” – a waiting area under the stands for invited guests – before returning to the field at 6:45 p.m.
And then … at precisely 6:56 p.m. … Showtime!
“It was very overwhelming,” Emma said. “I was trying to find my notes and then running through them by humming. There were a lot more people then than there were at the sound check, and some of the players were on the field. I also didn’t know when to start until the guy helping me gave me the thumbs-up. Whenever I get to sing I get into … not what I’d call a trance … but I stop thinking and just sing. I’ve done it so many times now that I don’t worry that much anymore about the song.”
Dressed in an Aaron Judge jersey and shorts, Emma stood behind home plate and ran through the song in a comfortable 1:55. To one side, stood a photographer; to the other, a cameraman. And in front, more than 400 feet away, loomed the centerfield scoreboard, with the lyrics to the anthem in big, bold letters.
“That’s the thing that made me really happy,” a relieved Emma said, “though I probably could’ve done it without it.”
When she finished, she walked off the field and returned to the stands where she joined her family and friends near the left-field foul pole. End of story? Not exactly. In the bottom of the fifth inning, her younger brother, Logan, was hit in the elbow by a Giancarlo Stanton drive that ricocheted into … get this … a friend’s basket of fries.
“I tried to tell him it was good luck,” his mother said.
It wasn’t. The Yankees lost. But Emma? She had a perfect game.
“How proud are we?” asked her mother. “There are no words. As her Mom, I can just see the pure joy in her when she’s singing. That’s the part that just blows me away. We just feel that when she’s on stage and singing, that’s where she shines. That’s where she’s herself.”
Emma didn’t disagree. However, she admitted that she has no designs on a career in music or the theater. At least, not now. That doesn’t mean she hasn’t thought about it. But, she admitted that she’s more interested in pursuing a legal degree and one day becoming a lawyer.
“The music industry is a hard one to get into,” she said. “It’s not really practical. So I don’t think it’s for me or what I plan my future to be. I’ve always liked learning about the U.S. government and criminal justice. But I love singing and taking advantage of the opportunities, too. Music is one of my passions and one of my favorite things to do.”
Emma Castiglioni didn’t get to meet any of the Yankees that evening or leave the Bronx with an autographed ball, bat or jersey. But that’s okay. Because she left with something bigger and, frankly, something better — an indelible memory of the night when she … and not the home team … stole the show at Yankee Stadium.
“Where does this rank among your lifetime experiences?” she was asked.
She didn’t blink.
“Probably number one,” she said.
Photos provided by Nicole Castiglioni
