The very exciting inauguration of Barack H. Obama on January 20th brought about a wide range of musical performances to celebrate the 44th president of the United States of America. Some of the many musical talents included the United States Marine Band, San Francisco's Boys and Girls Choruses, Aretha Franklin, John Williams with Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, Gabriela Montero, and Itzhak Perlman, and the United States Navy Band.

One performance we as Canadians should be especially proud of was the choir performance by the Nathanial Dett Chorale. Led by Blaiynerd Blyden-Taylor, the Canadian choir consists of 21 members and is mostly composed of African Americans but also consists of many different ethnicities. Their performance was considered a tribute from Canada to the United States as history was made. The Nathaniel Dett Chorale performs jazz, classical, spiritual, folk, and popular music mostly written by composers of African descent.

Another excellent performance by Yo-Yo and his quartet was a piece especially composed by John Williams for the inauguration of Barack Obama titled "Air and Simple Gifts". It was during this performance that Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States of America (as the constitution states that at twelve o'clock noon time, Obama becomes President even without the oath). Not only was the inauguration of Barack Obama creating history, but it consisted of some of the best musicians from around the World.

The link below will send you to the inaugural performance of Yo-Yo Ma in the performance of Air and Simple Gifts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GoRIQ9cwG8