International opera tenor James Valenti performed the national anthem at Yankee Stadium on Friday before the Mets-Yankees game held as part of the 25th-anniversary commemoration of the Sept. 11 attacks. The performance also honored a former North Hunterdon High School classmate who died in the attacks, according to WPBF.
The stadium appearance
WPBF reported that Valenti was invited to sing before the game, for which first pitch was scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern. It was his third time performing the anthem at Yankee Stadium, according to North Palm Beach Life.
The game continued a pattern of New York baseball commemorating the attacks. The Mets hosted the Braves at Shea Stadium on Sept. 21, 2001, and the Mets and Yankees played an anniversary game at Citi Field in 2021, according to Yanks Go Yard and CBS Sports. This year’s 25th-anniversary Subway Series game was played at Yankee Stadium.
The personal connection
Valenti’s former classmate worked for Cantor Fitzgerald and was killed in the attacks, WPBF reported. Accounts cited in the original article disagree about the classmate’s age and whether he worked in the North or South Tower, so those details are not included. The supplied Muck Rack page does not independently establish the classmate’s identity or circumstances.
Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 of its 960 New York-based employees on Sept. 11, 2001, the largest loss of life suffered by any organization, according to the New York Post.
Valenti’s career and next appearances
Valenti earned a bachelor’s degree in music from West Virginia University in 2000 and began his professional career at age 25, portraying Rodolfo in La bohème at the Rome Opera in 2003. He received the Richard Tucker Award in 2010 and has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, according to The Dominion Post.
Valenti is scheduled to perform at the Feast of Little Italy in Abacoa, Jupiter, on Nov. 8. He is also scheduled to present An Evening of Romantic Songs and Arias at the Waterfront Theater’s Glazer Hall on March 6, 2027, according to WPBF.
