Washington - The Queen of Soul will be among the star- studded musical talent to perform for the next US president as Barack Obama is sworn into office next month, the committee in charge of the ceremony announced Wednesday. The inaugural ceremony on the steps of the US Capitol will feature soul diva Aretha Franklin and a diverse A-list of classical musicians, including world-renowned Israeli-born violinist Itzhak Perlman, Chinese-American cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Venezuelan-born pianist Gabriela Montero.
Perlman, Ma, Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill will together perform a musical selection by composer John Williams, most known for his film scores to classics such as Jaws and Star Wars. The piece will be performed just before Obama is sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
Franklin will precede the swearing-in of vice president-elect Joe Biden.
Rick Warren, pastor of California's Saddleback Church that counts 83,000 congregants, and Reverend Dr Joseph Jones, a civil rights leader who founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Jr, will offer prayers.
The ceremony will also feature performances by the US Marine Band, the San Francisco Boys and Girls Choruses, the US Navy Band Sea Canters and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Elizabeth Alexander.
