The Inaugural Ceremonies Press Release
Posted: Monday, January 19, 2009
by Avis Ward
GeoVi's Home for Pregnant Teens
A Statement from
The Joint Congressional
Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies
For Immediate Release
Contact: Carole Florman December 17, 2008
(202) 224-2228
JCCIC ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL PROGRAM
Line-up Includes Musical Greats Aretha Franklin, Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman
WASHINGTON,
DC - Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chairman of the Joint Congressional
Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, today announced the program for the
56th Presidential Inauguration, which will take place on the West Front
of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2009.
"I am delighted to announce this superb line-up of participants in
the 2009 inaugural ceremonies," said Senator Feinstein. "The
inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama will be an event of
historic proportion. It is appropriate that the program will include
some of the world's most gifted artists from a wide range of
backgrounds and genres."
The program participants were invited by the Joint Congressional
Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and chosen by the Chairman, the
Presidential-elect and the Vice President-elect. In addition to Senator
Feinstein, the members of the Joint Congressional Committee on
Inaugural Ceremonies include: Senator Bob Bennett, Ranking Member of
the Senate Rules Committee; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; Speaker
of the House Nancy Pelosi; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer; and House
Republican Leader John Boehner.
The order of the program will be as follows:
Musical Selections
The United States Marine Band
Musical Selections
The San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus
Call to Order and Welcoming Remarks
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
Invocation
Dr. Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA
Musical Selection
Aretha Franklin
Oath of Office Administered to Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
By Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
The Honorable John Paul Stevens
Musical Selection, John Williams, composer/arranger
Itzhak Perlman, Violin
Yo-Yo Ma, Cello
Gabriela Montero, Piano
Anthony McGill, Clarinet
Oath of Office Administered to President-elect Barack H. Obama
By the Chief Justice of the United States
The Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr.
Inaugural Address
The President of the United States, The Honorable Barack H. Obama
Poem
Elizabeth Alexander
Benediction
The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery
The National Anthem
The United States Navy Band "Sea Chanters" Biographies
Elizabeth Alexander is a poet, essayist, playwright, and teacher. She is the author of four books and was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize. She has received many grants and honors, most recently the Alphonse Fletcher, Sr. Fellowship for work that "contributes to improving race relations in American society and furthers the broad social goals of the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954," and the 2007 Jackson Prize for Poetry. She is a professor at Yale University and was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University this year.
Aretha Franklin is often described as "The Queen of Soul." In a career spanning more than 50 years, she has earned a reputation as one of the greatest singers of our time, with a repertoire that includes soul, jazz, rock, blues, pop, and gospel. Franklin has won 21 Grammy Awards, including the Living Legend Grammy and the Lifetime Achievement Grammy. In 1987 she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Other awards include the National Medal of Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Kennedy Center Honors.
The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, considered the dean of the civil rights movement, co-founded along with Martin Luther King, Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and served as president and chief executive officer from 1977 to January 15, 1998. He served as pastor of Atlanta's oldest predominantly Black United Methodist congregation, Central Methodist Gardens for 18 years, and as pastor of Cascade United Methodist Church from 1986 to 1992.