Bundled in red hats and matching scarves, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, a Wallace Foundation grantee, became part of history this morning, as it performed in the musical prelude to the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
The Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble sang together with the San Francisco Boys Chorus, offering a 20-minute program that included “America the Beautiful” and “Hymn to Freedom,” by jazz legend Oscar Peterson. Braving the January cold before a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Washington, D.C., and millions more worldwide watching the inaugural ceremonies on television, the chorus was part of an event that included music luminaries Aretha Franklin, Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. The 43 girls, who performed against a backdrop of red, white and blue bunting and historic U.S. flags on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, range in age from 12 to 18 years old. In 2007, the chorus was the recipient of a four-year, $464,000 Wallace Excellence Award, a Wallace Foundation grant given to exemplary arts organizations to expand participation in the arts.
Watch the performance at KRON 4 news:
http://www.kron4.com/News/ArticleView/tabid/298/smid/1126/ArticleID/213/
reftab/36/t/San-Francisco-Boys-and-Girls-Choruses-Lift-Their-Voices-as-Part-of-Inaugural-Festivities/Default.aspx
View photographs at:
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Chattanooga, Tennessee)
http://timesfreepress.com/photos/galleries/2009/jan/20/photos-
inauguration/1563/
Read articles at:
San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/17/
MN5L159LLV.DTL
Channel NewsAsia
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/americas/view/403637/1/.html
San Francisco Girls Chorus web site
Press release: http://www.sfgirlschorus.org
Media accounts: http://www.sfgirlschorus.org/media_coverage
See other photos in these slideshows:
The Washington Post (look for slide #39)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2009/01/20/GA2009012001607.html
Centre Daily Times (look for the photos with red caps)
http://www.centredaily.com/news/local/
Herald-Dispatch (look for the photos with red caps)
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/multimedia/galleries/news/
x185431671/Gallery-President-Obamas-inauguration
