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Wednesday, 14 January 2009 01:10
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 Lesbian and Gay Band Association Chooses
Inspiring Music for Inaugural Parade
The Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA), a musical organization comprising marching and concert bands from across the United States and around the world, is proud to announce the five musical selections that it will perform during the parade for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20, 2009. LGBA is the first lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender group in history to be invited to march in a Presidential Inaugural Parade.
For the 25-minute, 1.6-mile parade, Majors says that the LGBA band will perform a total of five pieces, each of which speaks to a different aspect of Americans’ hope and pride during this historic inauguration. “Ode to Joy,” by Ludwig van Beethoven, is a beloved hymn to fellowship among people and echoes the Obama campaign idea that there is one America that includes us all. The band will play a spirited marching arrangement of this 1824 composition by Beethoven that is part of the beloved Ninth Symphony.
“Hold On, I’m Comin’,” a 1960s R&B hit on the Atlantic Records label, evokes the aspirations of the American people for the future and for the Obama presidency. The marching arrangement that the LGBA band will play has an infectious driving rhythm that is sure to electrify the crowds along the parade route.
“Brand New Day,” from the hit musical “The Wiz” (the Broadway re-telling of “The Wizard of Oz”), heralds the dawn of a new era. As the lyrics of the song say, “Everybody look up, and feel the hope that we've been waiting for” and “show the world that we’ve got liberty.”
Finally, “Manhattan Beach,” another Sousa march, will continue the theme of our American musical heritage on parade. This well-loved piece was written in 1893 to honor the Brooklyn beachfront neighborhood of the same name where the March King and his band once gave summer concerts.
The 177-piece LGBA band will be comprised of members of its bands, orchestras, and cheer squads from 26 states. They will join groups from across the country as well as from the Armed Forces in the historic parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, which follows President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the Capitol. The 12-person LGBA color guard will perform separate flag routines for each of the five pieces of music.
The LGBA concert band performed in 1993 at the inaugural celebrations for President Bill Clinton, becoming the first lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group to perform at an inauguration, and receiving a “thumbs-up” gesture from the President as they played "America the Beautiful." The LGBA band also performed at President Clinton’s second inauguration in 1997. While those performances were history-making in their own right, Majors says that “LGBA’s performance in the 2009 Inaugural Parade will take the organization’s mission of ‘Music, Visibility, and Pride’ to new heights.”
The Lesbian and Gay Band Association, founded in Chicago in 1982 by 7 member bands, has grown to 34 member organizations in the United States, Canada, and Australia.
For more information please contact:
Robb Blackwell (314) 852-8599
Judy Ames (585) 415-9563
Email:
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www.gaybands.org
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