Mormon Tabernacle Choir opens Yankees’ game against Tampa Bay (video)

On the eve of America's Independence Day celebration, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir filled an American hallmark — a baseball stadium — with patriotic music.

Standing in trim black suits and blue dresses on the field of Yankee Stadium, the 360-person choir performed a short medley of patriotic songs, leading into the national anthem, before the New York Yankees' game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

An attendee recorded the choir's rendition of the anthem and posted it to YouTube.

Before marching onto the field, choir member Anne Marie St. Felix was smiling from ear to ear.

"I love it. I'm here with the choir, a choir that I love, and I'm a Brooklyn girl represented," she said in a church interview before the game. "Oh my gosh, Yankees, yes. I'm going to wave to my mom, my dad, my cousins, anybody who's going to be watching me at this game, I'm waving."

The Yankees beat the Rays 7-5.

The choir is on its Atlantic Coast tour, which included a stop at another New York City landmark: Carnegie Hall.

"We have been fans of the choir for all of our lives.

So to have them here, at Carnegie Hall, is very, very special," said Blair Garff, VIP chairman of Carnegie Hall Events, in a church interview.

" … The response from those who came last night was overwhelmingly positive. People left in tears; they say they hadn't had an experience like that before."

The Atlantic Coast tour is the choir's first tour of much of the East Coast in more than a decade, according to the choir's blog.

mmcfall@sltrib.com

Twitter: @MikeyPanda