Anthem winner is multitalented

BOUNTIFUL — P.J. Schwartz definitely knows the words to the national anthem.

The 15-year-old Bountiful resident recently proved that by being selected as the National Anthem Project All-Star Contest winner for the state of Utah.

Schwartz won $1,000 for his school's music department and will have the opportunity to compete against National Anthem Project All-Star winners from across the country in the summer of 2007 in Washington, D.C.

"It will be so exciting, I am real excited," Schwartz said.

The Utah Project All-Star Contest was held at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City last month as part of the National Anthem Project's visit to Utah.

The National Anthem Project was the brainchild of the National Association for Music Education (MENC) to help raise awareness for the importance of school music programs. It is a national campaign designed to reteach Americans the lyrics to "The Star Spangled Banner" by traveling to all 50 states in 2006.

"I think it's a real worthwhile thing they are doing with this National Anthem Project," said Barbara, P.J.'s mother.

P.J. agrees and said people need to learn the words to the song.

"We learned about it in U.S. history and it's a really touching story just how the national anthem came about," he said.

Schwartz found out a couple of weeks ago that he won the competition for the state of Utah.

But the national anthem contest isn't the first singing competition Schwartz has won. When he was 13 years old, he won a local, state and national Radio Disney competition and was given the opportunity to fly to Nashville, Tenn. to record two demo tracks with Sparrow Records.

The Bountiful High School sophomore is no stranger to local stages. This past winter he played Ammon, a shepherd, in the "Savior of the World" production at the LDS Conference Center. Last summer, he sang a solo in front of thousands at Rice Eccles Stadium during a "Day of Celebration" performance that commemorated the 200th anniversary of the birth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints founder Joseph Smith.

When he was 14, Schwartz worked for one year as a kidcaster for the Salt Lake City Radio Disney AM 910 station. As kidcaster, he interviewed famous people from Disney who came to town, and hosted local Disney premieres. He has also been seen at Hale Center Theatre as a young prince in "The King and I."

Schwartz was also in a performing group based out of Salt Lake City for a few years that toured to New York City, Seattle and Branson, Mo. He said the director of the group, D. Kim Clayton, has been a big influence on him.