She and her band have performed for legions of fans before Seattle Reign (National Women’s Soccer League) games and at Seattle Kraken (National Hockey League) games. But singing the national anthem as part of a choir with Charlie Puth at Super Bowl LX—in front of 70,823 fans at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, and 124.9 million viewers watching on TV—was the largest audience she had ever played for.

Despite the massive crowd, she said she didn’t feel any nerves. “It’s harder for me to perform in a small space or more intimate setting,” she said. 

‘All under wraps’

So how was the EMU alumna able to land such a high-profile gig?

Since March 2023, Murray has been a member of the , directed by Terrance Kelly, which for the past four decades has made it its mission to inspire joy and unity through Black gospel and spiritual music traditions. Murray typically sings tenor in the choir but sang alto for their national anthem performance.

She said the production team working with Puth—the singer of such hits as See You Again and We Don’t Talk Anymore—reached out to the gospel choir and selected 10 performers. Ten members of the , an ensemble based in Charlotte, North Carolina, directed by Dennis Reed Jr., were also chosen.

“This was all under wraps; we couldn’t talk about it or anything,” Murray said. “But all of this happened within a week and a half, so we didn’t actually get our arrangements or parts until the Monday before the Super Bowl.”

On Friday, two days before Super Bowl Sunday, performers from the two choirs boarded a bus from Oakland, California, to Levi’s Stadium for sound check, where they were fitted for in‑ear monitors and the robes they would wear on the field.

“It was such a huge production,” said Murray. “In the same time span Brandi Carlile was singing America the Beautiful, we were singing our part with Charlie and the orchestra, and they were practicing videography for the flyover. All of that was being rehearsed at the same time.”

“It was pretty wild to have Brandi’s vocals live in my in-ear monitors because she’s one of my favorite contemporary singer-songwriters,” Murray added. “She’s a force to be reckoned with, so it was special to be in her orbit that way.”

The big day

On Sunday morning, the choirs arrived at the stadium, passed through security, and prepared for their performance at a nearby soccer field that had been turned into a green room. They shared the space with the orchestra and the performers dressed in grass suits who were part of the set for the Bad Bunny halftime show.

They walked through the same tunnel that Green Day, Carlile, and Bad Bunny used to enter the stadium. When the TV cameras cut to commercials, that’s when they took their places on the field.

Watch their performance below!

After they sang, they walked back out the tunnel, gave high-fives to some new “bush friends,” got on the bus, and were home by the fourth quarter, Murray said.

She said that working with Puth was “a total pleasure.”

“I don’t even think it’s really sunk in how much talent that man has,” she said. “Honestly, the same goes for Brandi. To be sandwiched between two incredible talents was a moment of a lifetime, for sure.”

Intercultural in Guatemala-Mexico

Born and raised in Seattle, Murray attended Seattle Mennonite Church and said she had “a lot of musical influence from growing up there,” but it wasn’t until well after her days at EMU that she began getting into music as a performer.

She attended the University of Washington for two years before spending a year in Washington D.C. through Mennonite Voluntary Service. She finished her last two years of her undergraduate degree at EMU, graduating in spring 2008.

She credited her intercultural experiences in Guatemala and Mexico as being particularly formative. “That never would’ve happened if EMU didn’t require it for its students,” she said. “I think, now more than ever, it’s important to stay connected to the larger world community and value people’s place in it, beyond what can feel convenient or easy.”

After graduating from EMU, she participated in Serving and Learning Together (SALT), Mennonite Central Committee’s yearlong, cross-cultural voluntary service program. She also taught English in Guatemala and ran an after-school program in El Salvador before returning to Seattle and plugging into the city’s music scene. She moved to Oakland in November 2022.

Looking back over the past week, Murray said one of the biggest highlights was working with Reed, director of the Sainted Trap Choir, who arranged the background vocals for their rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner.

“He’s so talented, and it filled my heart to work closely with him and sing in harmony with such skilled singers,” she said.

As players from the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks football teams cleared the field at halftime and fans eagerly awaited Bad Bunny’s performance, a 30-second ad for EMU aired on Charlottesville-based WVIR-TV (NBC-29). The commercial featured aerial shots of the EMU campus along with students engaged in academics, athletics, and community events.

“What will you find when you get an EMU education?” the voiceover asks at the start of the commercial. 

�Ԩ�dz�’l�� Find Your ROAR and so much more,” the voiceover concludes. “Tour EMU for a grant of up to $4,000 upon enrollment.”

According to a November 2018 , the TV station’s all-day ratings made it the ninth-highest-rated NBC affiliate in the country. The station’s designated market area has a total population of 99,260 TV households, as of the 2024-25 season ().

EMU Visual Media Manager Macson McGuigan ’17, who produced the commercial, said the ad represented countless hours of filming EMU events—from move-in day to Commencement—and that watching it air was a “very gratifying experience.”

“My overarching objective has always been to inspire people through photography and videos, and to inform them of the beauty of our campus, the richness of our community, and the impact an EMU education provides in the lives of our students,” McGuigan said. “Knowing that this commercial was on screen in so many households regionally brought me great joy, because it means that many more people have now had a glimpse into what an awesome place EMU is.”

One viewer who watched the Super Bowl ad and wrote in with praise was Judy Mullet, professor emerita of psychology at EMU, who said her “mouth dropped open” when she saw the commercial start. “Our family party watched it several times and was so impressed with the professionalism, and you packed a lot of EMU’s best into a short time,” she wrote in an email to the Marketing and Communications team. “Thank you for representing a place that still has my heart—I taught there for over 30 years, and our three children graduated from EMU as well.”

Watch the ad below!