The stage of President-Elect Barack Obama's inauguration will glitter with some of the world's top performers. Two Bay Area acts will share the stage with the likes of Aretha Franklin and Yo-Yo Ma.
The San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus were invited by Sen. Dianne Feinstein to perform at the inauguration at President-elect Barack Obama.
The two choruses were selected for their high level of artistic excellence, embodiment of the American spirit and promise for the future, according to Feinstein. Combined the two choruses have 86 members that will travel to Washington to perform.
"This is the highest honor we could imagine," said Ian Robertson, the artistic director of the San Francisco Boys Chorus. "The impacts of our two organizations travel far beyond the concert stage -- we are active agents for positive community change, youth empowerment and education."
Inauguration Chorus Program Features Patriotic Fare and World Premiere to Words of Barack Obama
The combined San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus will perform a program of patriotic music in keeping with the theme of Obama's inauguration: "A New Birth of Freedom."
The chorus will premiere of a new work by San Francisco composer David Conte entitled "An Exhortation," which is set to words from Obama's speech upon his election that concluded with the now signature words, "Yes we can."