Before a full Conn Center chapel, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander
announced today that the Lee University Festival Choir, a combined
chorus of the university’s choirs, will perform at the inauguration
of the President of the United States.

“We do not yet know who will be inaugurated president in
January,” Alexander said, “but we do know who will be singing that
day: the Lee University choir.”

The Lee University Festival Choir’s performance will occur
between 9:00 and 10:00 AM on
January 21 in Washington, D.C. The choir will perform outdoors on
the upper west terrace of the United States Capitol.

At the announcement today with Lee President Dr. Paul Conn,
Alexander said he recommended the Lee musicians because “their
great talent and inspirational musicianship will thrill the
millions of people who will be watching the inauguration of our
president.”

Alexander issued the invitation on behalf of the Joint
Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, of which he is the
Vice Chair.

Of the senator’s invitation today, Conn said, “We are honored to
accept Senator Alexander’s invitation to send a Lee University
choir to sing at the presidential inauguration. Lee has a great
choral tradition, and the Festival Choir will include 200 talented
college students to represent Tennessee in Washington. Lee
University is a patriotic campus. At the last presidential
inauguration, we suspended classes so students could watch the
ceremonies together on TV in large groups around campus. We plan to
do the same this year. It’s thrilling to know that, this year, our
students will be part of the festivities.”

Conn continued, “I am grateful to Senator Alexander for this
wonderful opportunity. We’re so complimented that, of all the fine
schools he might have invited, he chose Lee University.”

The university will send its Festival Choir to perform at the
inaugural ceremony, an ensemble traditionally convened to sing at
special events on Lee’s campus. The 200-voice choir will comprise
students chosen from among the school’s seven vocal ensembles, and
will be led by Dean of the School of Music Dr. William R.
Green.

Lee University’s music program is world-renowned. Lee’s ensembles
have toured extensively at home and abroad for 50 years, singing in
such venues as Carnegie Hall, the World’s Fair (NYC), the Kennedy
Center, the White House, the Vatican and Notre Dame Cathedral in
Paris.

Lee’s School of Music, accredited by the National Association of
Schools of Music, is comprised of two departments: the Department
of Vocal Music and the Department of Instrumental Music. It offers
Bachelor’s degrees in performance, music education, church music,
music business, and applied music, as well as Master’s degrees in
performance, music education, church music and conducting.

Lee University is a private, comprehensive university with a
current enrollment of 4,954, located in Cleveland, Tenn. Lee
provides a liberal arts education in a Christ-centered environment,
offering more than 100 degree programs among its four colleges:
Arts and Sciences, Music, Education and Religion. Lee’s growing
reputation for academic excellence can be seen in the high caliber
of faculty and students who are drawn to campus.