A star-spangled showing for Stevenson High grad

Come kickoff time Sunday, you can add Stevenson High School graduate and opera singer Karen Jesse to the list of musicians who've performed at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Rock legend Bruce Springsteen's done it. So has country star Kenny Chesney.

Jesse, who graduated Stevenson in 2000, will join their illustrious ranks when she sings the national anthem as part of a quartet before the Eagles' home game against the division rival New York Giants.

All four singers are students at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, as are the members of the musical ensemble that will accompany them.

Even though she'll be singing a song many consider difficult and doing it before a crowd of more than 67,000 fans, Jesse isn't at all nervous.

"I don't think any of us really have the jitters," said Jesse, 25, whose parents live in Prairie View. "It's our job to do this. It's what we're trained to do."

After high school, Jesse, a soprano, attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and graduated in 2004. She said she hopes to earn a master's degree at Curtis in 2008.

Jesse's no stranger to prestigious performances. She sang at Carnegie Hall in New York as a teen and in shows around the world.

The Eagles had invited musicians from the Curtis Institute to perform at Sunday's game, a team spokeswoman said. Jesse and her friends were chosen after submitting an audition CD.

Sunday's performance is set for about noon Central Standard Time.

It's not the first time Jesse has sung "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a football game. She performed at a Chicago Bears game when she was in high school, although the game itself ultimately was rained out, she recalled.

Jesse's mother, Janet, is Stevenson High's events coordinator. She's proud of her daughter's musical accomplishments and has no doubt she'll nail the song.

"Karen has been blessed with an exceptional range, so I'm quite confident she's up to it," her mother said.

Stevenson spokesman Jim Conrey is excited about Jesse's showcase performance, too.

"Singing the national anthem before an NFL game is just the tip of the iceberg as far as Karen's career is concerned," he said. "She's going to be a standout performer in the opera world within a few years."