26-04-2025
250 Performances Later: Roc singer performs national anthem at Amerks playoff game
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — It all started with singing in church.
'I didn't go to school for music,' Peter Michael Pirro explained to News 8 Friday. 'I love singing. I got out to the Midwest, and I went to school at Bradley University.'
During a choir rehearsal at the school, the teacher asked if anyone knew the lyrics to 'Oh, Canada.'
'I raised my hand,' Pirro said. 'I'm looking around like, 'They're not going to make me sing to these 50 people. Are they?' He's like, 'You're singing at the hockey game tonight.''
Starting with college hockey, Pirro quickly advanced to minor league hockey — and says each performance, was natural.
'I don't know, [am] adrenaline rush, but also I just felt like it was a good way to give back, it was a good way to bring people together,' he explained.
A few years of performances here and there would quickly become a regular gig when Pirro moved home to Rochester in 2001.
'In 2003 […] I started sending out my tape. Gosh, back then there were tapes, and the Blue Jays said, 'Yeah, come on,'' Pirro said. 'And the Blue Jays gave my name to Oakland. Oakland gave my name to Baltimore. And this all started to snowball to where today, 250 plus anthems later, and half of the major league stadiums, and a lot here in Rochester… I'm just super blessed to do it.'
And the love for Rochester still goes strong. Pirro performed 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at Blue Cross Arena Friday night ahead of the highly anticipated North Division Semifinals.
'I think every time you just realize that you always want to make sure you have the energy in it to keep people engaged,' Pirro said. 'I'll say a mini prayer ahead of time. Or I'll look upward, and I'll think of my grandfather, my mother. They'd like to be proud about this, but every single time you look at that audience, you look at the crowd, even if it's only like 400 friends and relatives to 55,000 and I just think I'm going to do my best to bring these people together, to let them sing with me.'
And along the way, Pirro hopes to inspire his kids as well.
'It's also a way to teach folks to get out your comfort zone, to put as much preparation into something as you possibly can, and just, I guess, get out of do something brave, do something that's going to make people happy, even though it might make you a little uncomfortable,' Pirro said.
Pirro will sing the national anthem ahead of the Amerks' game on Sunday, and is set to perform ahead of a Pirates game in August, and Yankees game in September.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
