This rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” went viral just when we needed it

Madisen Hallberg is a graduating senior at Portland State University who loves to sing.

She was practicing to record a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” for her virtual graduation when a stranger walking by asked to join her in song.

Their impromptu duet has since gone viral. (Video courtesy of Portland State University.)

Here’s how it happened. Madisen was warming up on the campus’s empty park blocks for her virtual graduation. Emmanuel Henreid, who happens to be a trained opera singer, was walking by and spontaneously signaled to the camera guy that he wanted to join in. So the unplanned national anthem became a duet.

Hallberg told ABC News she thought the interaction was “symbolic for what we need to do as a people and as a community.”  She said that rather than trying to “outsing the person next to you,” we should try to “blend with them and harmonize with them.”