The little blonde girl is barely visible on the side of the rugby field, but as she belts out the national anthem, her presence is heard and made known. At the last home rugby game, senior Bridget Dennis sang the pre-game national anthem.

Dennis, a vocal education major, has been singing for 15 years and began her career at the age of six, playing Molly in the musical “Annie.”

“My family is really musical,” she said. “We sing all the time. My dad played drums. We always had music in our house. Doing theater was definitely a gateway for me (to spend time with the family).”

Dennis has participated in the musicals “Annie,” “The Music Man,” “Carousel,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “Hair” as well as several others.

Dennis loves theater performance, but another genre of vocal performance has become her focus. Chorale singing has been her favorite since middle school.

“There is a community in a choir. You’re all making music at the same time. You are all working towards a goal. Nobody is better than anybody else,” Dennis said. “There is some chorale music that is so beautiful and breath-taking. I love it.”

Dennis has been a member of eight different choirs since she began singing. Currently, she is a member of The Oakland Chorale, the university’s most advanced choir.

“For chorale, we usually have two concerts a year: one in November and then one in April,” Dennis said. “We are going to Central Michigan University Halloween weekend. We are singing Handel’s “Messiah” with the Wharton symphony over Christmas break. We are going on a tour of New York this May as well.”

Dennis also takes private voice lessons with Barb Blande to work on her solo repertoire, which is required for her major.

“Bridget is a ‘bright spot’ in my day,” Blande said. “Her excellent grades are evidence of the hard work and positive attitude that she applies to everything she does.”

Dennis said she likes solo and chorale performing equally.

“With solo performing, there is more pressure involved. It makes it a little more nerve wracking and that takes a lot to get over,” she said. “With chorale singing, there isn’t that individual glory. It’s not all about you as a singer.”

At Troy High School, Dennis discovered her real passion and future career in music education through an independent study class with her choir director, in which she taught a choir a song and conducted it at a concert.

Along with her regular course load, Dennis takes extra conducting lessons to prepare for her future career.

“I would like to start by teaching at a high school,” Dennis said. “I would really like to build a chorale program in a high school. Pretty quickly after I graduate, I would like to get my masters in choral conducting as well.”

Conducting has become Dennis’s favorite aspect of the chorale performance.

“I think I prefer conducting a choir to preforming myself,” Dennis said “To be able to stand back and say, ‘these people are here making beautiful music because I led them to it.’ It brings out the teacher in me that feels the pride for the students and to see them succeed.”

Even though her focus is on teaching, Dennis would like to continue performing now and after she graduates. She wouldn’t mind singing the national anthem for another Oakland sporting event either.

“It’s fun to sing the national anthem at events because I’m used to singing in front of my teacher and other voice students all the time,” Dennis said. “To sing in front of other kids from school is really awesome.”