Local students to perform with choir at inauguration

For one moment, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., looked like the conductor of the Missouri State University Chorale in October.

He was to address a public gathering on the Springfield, Missouri, campus at an event in which the chorale had just performed, and he was to make a special announcement.

How special was it?

He managed to make the 50 jaws of the chorale members drop in unison.

Blunt extended an invitation to perform during the 58th Presidential Inauguration, which will take place Friday.

"I was thinking it could be something more important, but no one would have ever guessed that we'd be singing for the inauguration," chorale member Claire Kidwell, a 2015 graduate of Jackson High School, said about learning Blunt was going to talk at the assembly that day.

Kidwell is one of five local members of the MSU Chorale, which includes another Jackson graduate, Payton Beck (2015), also a sophomore; two Cape Girardeau Central High School graduates, sophomore Zach Reece (2015) and freshman Michaela Lovig (2016); and Notre Dame Regional High School graduate Ethan Pobst (2012), a junior.

"We sang our song at the beginning of the ceremony, and Sen. Blunt came up to the podium, and he started talking about the history of the inauguration," Pobst said. "After he had talked about it, I think some of us slowly realized what was going on. And then he said, 'I would like to invite the Missouri State University Chorale to perform at the inauguration in January.' We all found out like that. It was really funny. I think we all had, like, shocked looks on our faces."

The Missouri contingent will be one of three choirs performing during the inauguration ceremony and will be singing "Now We Belong," an original work commissioned for the event.

They will perform between the swearing in of Indiana governor Mike Pence as vice president and the swearing in of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States.

Also singing at the inauguration ceremony will be the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Washington National Cathedral Choir and Jackie Evancho, a 16-year-old singer of "America's Got Talent" fame -- runner-up in 2010 -- who will sing the national anthem.

It's all just another part of a wild ride for Pobst, who, like the other four locals, participated in choir in high school.

Last spring, the chorale toured South Africa for 19 days.

"I did not anticipate this," Pobst said. "I honestly did not know what I was getting myself into. When I first auditioned, I just knew I wanted to be in the choir, and I honestly did not know how amazing of a group this choir was until I was in it for a few months, and all these experiences I've had so far in it have just been life-changing. I could never imagine that I'd be doing any of the things I have done with this group in the last two years."

Lovig, who sang four years in the choir at Central, said she knew she would be going on domestic and international tours with the group when she auditioned.

"An inauguration, I never imagined we'd be doing," said Lovig, a vocal-music education major.

The chorale performs under the direction of Cameron LaBarr, who approached Missouri State president Clifton M. Smart III about possibly performing at the inauguration.

Smart had connections with Blunt, who was the chairman of the joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies that selected the performers.

It was arranged for a chorale recording to be sent to Blunt and the committee, which included high-ranking members of both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

"They listened to the recording of us, and they basically let us sing from there," Pobst said.

"We Now Belong" is about a 3 1/2-minute song composed by John Wykoff, an assistant professor of music theory and composition at Lee University, with its lyrics written by Michael Dennis Browne, a professor emeritus of English at the University of Minnesota.

Pobst said the song revolves around the essence of American ideals -- a united, all-inclusive society where dreams can be pursued freely.

"I absolutely love the piece that we're singing," Pobst said. "I think it's something people really need to hear right now. I feel like there's just some negativity in the country right now ... and it's just really a piece that people need to listen to."

Kidwell has similar feelings about the song.

"I think it's a beautiful piece," Kidwell said. "Instead of talking about the election or the president's office, it's really talking about America as a whole, its history, who we are as a people and just some good reminders of what to think of once we get past this election, because I'm still seeing a lot of leftover emotion from this past election. And the lyrics of this song really kind of speak to the heart, and it's a good message."

Pobst said the chorale will be perched above where the president and vice president will be sworn in outside the U.S. Capitol.

"I think it's going to be really cool to see all these people that we see in the news," Kidwell said. "The Clintons will be there; Trump will be there; I'm pretty sure lots of the members of Congress will be there as well. Just to see these people in person is kind of awe-inspiring, no matter what side of the political spectrum you're on."

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has 360 members, and one resigned late last month over the group's decision to sing at the inauguration.

All the chorale members will be attending.

Kidwell is majoring in global studies; Pobst is majoring in elementary education; Reece is majoring in music education; and Beck is majoring in percussion performance.

Missouri State began its spring semester Tuesday, and members of the chorale will miss three days of classes.

The group, which departed Wednesday, will take part in a sound check today in preparation for Friday's ceremony, then perform at a concert Saturday at the First National Presbyterian Church in Washington before returning Sunday.

"I'm just honestly looking forward to the swearing in and just being there for the ceremony, because not a lot of people can say they were right there, and ... just having the honor of performing there. It's something I couldn't even imagine," Pobst said. "It's still hitting me that we're actually doing this. And my hope is that we can just touch some people with the song we're singing. That is my big hope for this whole event that we're doing."