Largo High Anthem Singer Ready To Rock Again (VIDEO)

Usually at high school sporting events, the national anthem is either a recording or sung by a member of the student body. 

But for the past two years, attendees of Largo High School baseball games have been treated to a different kind of anthem — one that comes from the lungs of George Petrilyak, a 47-year-old Brooklyn native who idolizes Frank Sinatra and sounds like one of the Five Tenors. 

No, Petrilyak isn’t your typical high school anthem singer.

But after hearing his stirring rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner,” followed by the claps and cheers that accompany it, you’ll find yourself wishing every anthem sounded as good as his.

“I usually get several compliments on it, from coaches and fans of the other teams,” Petrilyak told Patch recently. “I’ve been doing it for two years and I enjoy doing it.” 

So how did this classically trained pianist who spent decades performing in rock bands come to be singing that national anthem at high school baseball games? 

From Piano Prodigy to Rock Radio 

Petrilyak was born and raised in Brooklyn, where he studied classical piano at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music from ages 8-10 before teaching himself how to play guitar as a teen. 

He started playing in bands, and during a stint living in Las Vegas for his day job as a salesman in the early '90s, Petrilyak got taste of what it was like to be a real rock star. 

“We played all the big clubs in Vegas, but one of the highlights for me was hearing myself on the radio,” he said. “That was very exciting.”

After moving back to Brooklyn in 1992, he cut his long hair and started playing more commercial pop music. 

But despite recording a demo and nearly getting a record deal from Sony, he abandoned his dream of being the next Springsteen after his son, Steven, was born in 1995. 

“When my son was born I pretty much hung it up to become a dad,” he said. “I still played at parties on the side for free, because I enjoyed it so much. But I never put much effort into promoting and marketing myself.” 

The Accidental Anthemist

After moving to Florida in 1997, Petrilyak continued to treat his love of music as more of a hobby than a career.

He and his wife had a daughter, Julie, and George continued to play side gigs while working his sales job and raising his family.

It wasn’t until after Steven became a star player for the Packers' baseball team that his real love for performing was ignited again. Ironically, it happened by accident. 

“Last year they were looking for someone to announce the games,” he recalled. “I offered to help out as a way to be part of the game.” 

“But when I tried to cue up the anthem on the iPod, I couldn’t get it work. So I just sang it, and I’ve been singing it ever since.” 

Petrilyak recently sang his last anthem for Largo High; the Packers' season ended with a loss to Dixie Hollins last week in what was Steven’s final game at the school.

Now George is creating a website to help market himself; he wants to get into commercial voice-over work as well as performing in front of large crowds again. 

He's hoping as one door closes, another one will open again.

“It’s sad that this chapter is ending, but hopefully it’s the beginning of another,” he said. 

“Who knows, maybe they’ll even ask me to sing the anthem for Steven’s college team?”

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