Mormon Tabernacle Choir to Sing at Presidential Inauguration
Contributed By MormonNewsroom.org
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs during the October 2016 general conference.
Article Highlights
- The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will sing at the inauguration ceremony for Donald Trump.
- The appearance will be the choir’s seventh inaugural experience.
“Singing the music of America is one of the things we do best. We are honored to be able to serve our country by providing music for the inauguration of our next president.” —Ron Jarrett, Mormon Tabernacle Choir president
At the request of the U.S. Presidential Inauguration Committee, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has accepted an invitation to sing at the swearing-in ceremony during the presidential inauguration at the Capitol next month in Washington, D.C.
The inauguration ceremony for President-elect Donald J. Trump and Vice President-elect Michael R. Pence is scheduled for January 20, 2017. Trump will take the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States.
“The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has a great tradition of performing at the inaugurals of U.S. presidents,“ said Ron Jarrett, president of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. ”Singing the music of America is one of the things we do best. We are honored to be able to serve our country by providing music for the inauguration of our next president.“
Members of the 360-member volunteer choir will travel to the nation’s capital for the historic event.
The choir has previously sung at the inaugurals of five other U.S. presidents, including the official swearing-in ceremonies for George H. W. Bush (1989), Richard M. Nixon (1969), and Lyndon B. Johnson (1965). They performed in inaugural parades for George W. Bush (2001), George H. W. Bush (1989), and Ronald W. Reagan (1981).
When the choir sang its signature song “Battle Hymn of the Republic” during the inaugural parade for President Reagan in 1981, he dubbed the choir “America’s Choir.” President George H. W. Bush called the choir “a national treasure” during his swearing-in ceremony in front of the Capitol in 1989.
Over the years, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has performed on other occasions for five additional U.S. presidents. The choir sang in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for Jimmy Carter in 1978 and John F. Kennedy in 1963. Gerald Ford heard the choir sing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in 1974. White House performances included a 1958 appearance for Dwight D. Eisenhower and an occasion for William Howard Taft in 1911.
In 1965, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang for President Lyndon B. Johnson's inauguration.
President Ronald Reagan was a fan of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He requested the choir to take part in his first inauguration as president of the United States in 1981.
President George Herbert Walker Bush kept the tradition going with the invitation to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to perform at his 1989 inauguration.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's last inauguration appearance was in 2001 for President George W. Bush.
