Aretha Franklin will sing, the Rev. Rick Warren will pray and more
than 11,000 U.S. troops will be watching over inauguration
ceremonies in case of an attack during President-elect Barack
Obama's swearing-in on Jan. 20.
As many as 4 million visitors are expected to be on hand when Obama
takes the noontime oath from Chief Justice John Roberts on the
steps of the Capitol.
The program is to feature poet Elizabeth Alexander; the Rev. Joseph
Lowery, a veteran civil rights leader; the U.S. Marine and Navy
bands; and the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco
Girls Chorus.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairman of the Joint
Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said the day would
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," she said.
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriela
Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill will perform a new work
composed by John Williams, who also provided music for Obama's
election night rally in Chicago's Grant Park. The committee did not
release a title for the work by Williams, who is best known for his
film scores such as "Star Wars" and "Jaws."
Vice President-elect Joe Biden will take his oath from Justice John
Paul Stevens. Others on the schedule were a nod to Obama's election
as the country's first black president.
Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
with Martin Luther King, Jr., was scheduled to offer the event's
benediction.
Franklin, a living legend with 21 Grammies, performed for President
Bill Clinton in 1993, but this would be her first Inauguration.
During a Labor Day weekend rally in Detroit, Obama sang a bit of
Franklin's "Chain of Fools" to her.
Alexander, a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist and Yale University
professor, centers her poems and essays on race relations and
social movements.
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