The Obama Inaugural Concert: Josh Groban Sings with the D. C. Gay Men’s Chorus
source: http://www.propeller.com/story/2009/01/19/the-obama-inaugural-concert-josh-groban-sings-with...
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America's first African-American president was serenaded by a large number of world-class performers at the nationally televised concert titled “We Are One” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial two days before Obama's inauguration. More than a few people at the National Mall on Sunday must have been reminiscing about the life of Marian Anderson, and just how amazed and proud she'd be.
Queen Latifah told the story of Marian Anderson, the renowned African-American opera singer who in 1939 had been barred from performing at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Anderson was subsequently invited to perform on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial by Eleanor Roosevelt, who resigned her D.A.R membership in protest. Anderson sang the American anthem “My Country, 'Tis of Thee” before an integrated audience of an estimated 75,000 people. Today's crowd of more than 400,000 people watched a black-and-white film clip of Anderson's stirring performance seven decades ago, when few could have imagined that the son of an African father and a mother from Kansas could be elected president of the United States.
Marian Anderson's story was followed by a performance by Josh Groban and Heather Headley. They sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in what was clearly meant to be a historical metaphor. In this symbolic moment, which was a call for gay people's freedom, Groban and Headly were backed by the official Washington D.C. Gay Men's Chorus, with the red AIDS ribbons pinned to their chests.
This piece includes a number of photographs from the concert, along with the very moving music video of Josh Groban singing with the Washington D.C. Gay Men's Chorus.
Queen Latifah told the story of Marian Anderson, the renowned African-American opera singer who in 1939 had been barred from performing at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Anderson was subsequently invited to perform on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial by Eleanor Roosevelt, who resigned her D.A.R membership in protest. Anderson sang the American anthem “My Country, 'Tis of Thee” before an integrated audience of an estimated 75,000 people. Today's crowd of more than 400,000 people watched a black-and-white film clip of Anderson's stirring performance seven decades ago, when few could have imagined that the son of an African father and a mother from Kansas could be elected president of the United States.
Marian Anderson's story was followed by a performance by Josh Groban and Heather Headley. They sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in what was clearly meant to be a historical metaphor. In this symbolic moment, which was a call for gay people's freedom, Groban and Headly were backed by the official Washington D.C. Gay Men's Chorus, with the red AIDS ribbons pinned to their chests.
This piece includes a number of photographs from the concert, along with the very moving music video of Josh Groban singing with the Washington D.C. Gay Men's Chorus.
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