A Winnipeg musician got a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience the world’s biggest stage last weekend.
Karen Kosowski, who is now based in Nasvhille, Tenn., was on hand for Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles on Sunday after being asked to create an arrangement for the U.S. national anthem, performed by country artist Mickey Guyton.
“I’ve been working with Mickey Guyton for several years now and she said, ‘How would you feel with coming up with an arrangement for the national anthem at the Super Bowl?’ I was shocked and honoured and terrified,” Kosowski told 680 CJOB.
“I went back through so many different YouTube videos of past anthem performances and Mickey and I really talked about the kind of performance that felt true to her.
“She really wanted to go for a performance that spoke of unity, and having the choir behind her on the field that was made up of very diverse people was really important to her.”
Kosowski, who is also headed to the Grammys this year as producer of Guyton’s new record — which has three nominations — got her start in Winnipeg before moving to Toronto two decades ago and from there, heading to the U.S. country music mecca of Nashville.
“I think Winnipeg is a great, diverse city full of different kinds of music, so I think that was really helpful to me,” she said.
“The long, cold winters make you stay inside and work really hard — you get used to that at an early age and I think that probably helped me too.”