Stephen Limbaugh III performs at White House holiday party

Stephen Limbaugh III � pianist, Southeast Missouri native and son of U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. � performed at the White House as part of a holiday party Tuesday.

�Because I was a musician associated with Republican politics, my name was sort of on the radar for people who program events for the White House,� Stephen Limbaugh III said Friday in a phone interview.

He received an invitation in August to apply to perform at the White House, he said.

In late October, he had been selected to perform at one of the Christmas parties held in the East Room of the White House.

Once Thanksgiving Day hits, all the way up until a week before Christmas Day, there�s a party held at the White House every day, Limbaugh said.

�They do that because you can�t have everybody there at the same time, and you can�t leave anybody out,� he said.

Limbaugh said his portion was heavy on holiday music, including �everything that you could imagine,� from �The Nutcracker,�� all the way to �Charlie Brown.�

And while performing the Charlie Brown theme portion, Limbaugh said, two of the Secret Service agents who were standing in the other room came in and gave him �a big thumbs up.�

Limbaugh said, �They loved it.�

Playing at the White House was very different, he said, when comparing it to times he performed at the Golden Globes or Emmys.

�There is definitely a degree of exclusivity involved in it,� he said. �But a Hollywood exclusivity and a political exclusivity are very different things.�

Limbaugh said he enjoyed performing at the White House more than any other type of performance. He felt a sense of freedom with what he wanted to program for his portion of the party�s entertainment, he said.

He doesn�t think he will ever get used to having nerves before a show, Limbaugh said.

�But, once I�m seated and the program is underway, all of that dissipates and you just get in the zone,� he said.

Limbaugh began playing piano at the age of 11, and �took to it fairly quickly.� He attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and followed his then-passion to perform in bands in Los Angeles, before making the switch to classical music, all while starting his own YouTube channel.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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