Lee University Festival Choir Performs at Inauguration
January 21, 2013—Washington, D.C.–After two months of preparation and anticipation, the 200-voice Lee University Festival Choir performed before an international audience at the second inauguration of President Barack Obama.
The choir’s performance came following an invitation from Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who came to the Lee University campus four days prior to the November 6 election to invite the school to participate.
The Lee University Festival Choir minutes before their inauguration performance.
“We don’t yet know who will be inaugurated next January,” Alexander said at a November 1, 2012 chapel service at Lee, “But we do know who will be the performing choir…Lee University!” Obama went on to win a second term in office, but the result did not change the invitation from the senator, who serves as vice chairman of the Inaugural planning committee along with Senator Charles Schumer. (D-NY).
The choir left Lee University last Friday morning on five buses and arrived in Washington, D.C. thirteen hours later. Among those accompanying the Festival Choir members were Lee University vice presidents and the directors of the seven Lee performing groups which comprise the mass choir. On the way to the nation’s capital, the convoy of buses stopped at the Virginia Church of God campground in Roanoke where they were treated to lunch on the grounds.
Last Thursday prior to the choir’s departure on Friday morning, the choir gave a community concert in Conn Center on the Lee campus. They performed their repertoire of eight songs, and were given a send-off by Cleveland, Tennessee Mayor Tom Rowland who praised the choir’s opportunity to represent the city, Tennessee and the United States. Lee University President Dr. Paul Conn commented during the event of the fact that, “there are more than 10,000 college choirs in the United States, but the only one performing during the inauguration will be Lee University!”
Today the choir began their morning with a 4:30 am wake-up call and a journey to the Senate Office Building for a rehearsal. Lee University was featured in the pre-inaugural activities, where just after 9:30 EST, the choir took the spotlight. They sang a package of songs which included “Saints Bound for Heaven,” “Hymn for America,” and “Chattanooga Choo-Choo.” Their performance took place from the upper portico of the Capitol, just above where the president delivered his address later that morning. Major networks and cable stations carried the Lee performance live, showing various shots of the 200-voice choir sporting matching peacoats and toboggans with “LEE” stitched on the rims.
Throughout the inauguration ceremony, the choir and Lee staff, including President Conn, were seated on the upper portico with a birds-eye view of the proceedings, which included vocal performances by James Taylor, Kelly Clarkson, and Beyonce Knowles. The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, seated just above the Lee choir, sang a rousing rendition of Battle Hymn of the Republic.
The Lee University delegation was scheduled to drive back to Cleveland, Tennessee, this afternoon.
