The Star-Spangled Banner

Guitar quartets, cello, and voices come together in this 2020 album exploring the experiences of pioneering and Native American women, which has been nominated for a 2022 GRAMMY award for Best Choral Performance. The vocal ensemble Conspirare's recording, The Singing Guitar, includes The Dawn’s Early Light, by composer Kile Smith.

The national melody that’s notoriously hard to sing owes its musical roots to a private men’s club. WRTI’sMerideeDuddleston hears the “the bombs bursting…