Boston Bruins choose a probation officer and bartender as their new National Anthem singer
The Boston Bruins have a new full-time National Anthem singer at TD Garden and they found him steps from the ice. Todd Angilly, a bartender at the arena, got the gig.
The Bruins announced his new position on Thursday. He will debut at the season opener on October 8.
Angilly, who works as a probation officer by day, takes the place of Bruins legend Rene Rancourt, who started singing for the team in 1976 and retired at the end of the 2017-18 season, the NHL team said in a statement.
Angilly will sing at 80% of the home games, while the other games will feature a rotation of performers, the Bruins said.
Despite the sudden brush with fame, Angilly wasn’t plucked from relative obscurity.
The 44-year-old belted out his first notes at the arena on November 2, 2017, when he was asked to fill in for a no-show while bartending at the SportsDeck.
Angilly is a trained opera singer who studied at the New England Conservatory. He has performed for all five Boston professional sports teams.
After the retirement of Rancourt, the Bruins went to work to find a replacement and a rotation of singers for the gap year.
Angilly was selected out of 600 applications and 52 finalists when the Bruins held the live auditions on August 8, 2018. He sang the anthem at 16 games at TD Garden and at each of the home playoff games, according to the Bruins.
