One Voice: Behind-the-Scenes of UNL Choir’s Journey to Perform at Presidential Inauguration
University Communication
Author
01/25/2025
Added
24
Plays
Description
Join several members of UNL Choirs as they share memories and perspectives of their time in Washington, D.C., for the 2025 Presidential Inauguration.
Find out more at https://news.unl.edu/article/choirs-unforgettable-dc-journey-captured-in-one-voice-video
Searchable Transcript
Toggle between list and paragraph view.
- [00:00:10.176]I’m nervous.
- [00:00:12.887]-It'll be great.
- [00:00:14.514]-It's gonna be fine.
- [00:00:15.432]I always get nervous so it’s fine.
- [00:00:17.684]-I feel a voice crack a brewing, I don’t know.
- [00:00:20.770](singing)
- [00:00:24.733](This is the sound of)
- [00:00:26.526](one voice)
- [00:00:29.946](This is the sound)
- [00:00:31.364](of one voice)
- [00:00:35.201](This is the sound of one voice)
- [00:00:40.415]-Hey, everybody.
- [00:00:41.166]And Sylvia and Jaime.
- [00:00:44.044]And it's currently Thursday night, January 16th, the night
- [00:00:47.589]before we leave for Washington, D.C., and we are currently packing.
- [00:00:52.594]And it's so much work, but it's fun. It's worth it.
- [00:00:55.346]It'll be so worth it
- [00:00:56.389]tomorrow when we get on the plane and arrive in Washington, D.C.
- [00:01:02.353]-We are traveling to Washington, D.C.
- [00:01:04.731]to sing for the inauguration of the president.
- [00:01:07.525]And so it's kind of cool.
- [00:01:08.651]Like, I think this is like a
- [00:01:09.527]once in a lifetime opportunity for any student, you know?
- [00:01:13.364]So this is awesome.
- [00:01:17.702]-I think everybody is really excited.
- [00:01:20.622]I mean, it's just a crazy, crazy, awesome opportunity
- [00:01:25.126]to get to do what we’re going to do.
- [00:01:29.047]-We’re getting ready to leave.
- [00:01:31.216]Oh, this is Tori, I'm Sofia.
- [00:01:33.426]I will be your host this trip.
- [00:01:36.096]-I'm taking over the Instagram,
- [00:01:39.307]-Getting ready to board the plane.
- [00:01:41.267]It’s pretty, pretty unique.
- [00:01:44.062]-Okay, Noah Arent, welcome to the plane that's taking you to Washington.
- [00:01:48.066]You are seat 25-A.
- [00:01:50.568]Let’s go, Huskers! -Yes, Go Big Red!
- [00:01:53.571]-Say hi, Doctor Eklund.
- [00:02:06.376]-Look at these good looking singers coming off the plane.
- [00:02:09.546]Yeah!
- [00:02:11.131]-I think we’re doing pretty OK right now.
- [00:02:13.174]How do you feel, Tori?
- [00:02:14.259]-I feel great! -Okay.
- [00:02:15.760]-Hello, New York!
- [00:02:16.636]-Hello, New York.
- [00:02:18.221]-We're currently walking to the Lincoln Memorial.
- [00:02:22.392]We just got out of the bus after being trapped for quite some time.
- [00:02:25.979]-Hey, you're pretty good at this, man. -Ah, thanks.
- [00:02:29.315]Lots of,
- [00:02:31.276]barricades and
- [00:02:33.903]barriers and other security measures.
- [00:02:38.199]Excited to be actually doing something
- [00:02:41.286]instead of sitting on the bus. We need water.
- [00:02:44.956]We got a couple dudes playing,
- [00:02:47.333]Earth, Wind & Fire over here.
- [00:02:49.586]-Hey, Molly.
- [00:02:50.920]Okay. It's a party.
- [00:02:52.630]We've got people coming in. -It’s a party.
- [00:02:54.924]-We got buskers out there.
- [00:02:57.177]That is so scrumptious.
- [00:02:59.387]-Pete.
- [00:02:59.762]Say hi.
- [00:03:00.805]-Hi.
- [00:03:04.434]-Thank you all.
- [00:03:11.024]-Our very first stop on the trip
- [00:03:13.151]is at the Lincoln Memorial.
- [00:03:14.861]Sort of an honor to the great city of Lincoln, from which we hail.
- [00:03:19.866]So we really wanted
- [00:03:20.742]these students to have an opportunity to bring that together in a real way
- [00:03:24.829]and sort of make the connection of, “We have a Lincoln and here's a Lincoln.”
- [00:03:29.751]So just sort of a little fun play with them to sort of
- [00:03:32.712]get their Washington, D.C.
- [00:03:35.131]presidential inauguration journey started.
- [00:03:38.259]-We were saying how the Lincoln Memorial looks like
- [00:03:42.347]Zeus from “Herculues.”
- [00:03:44.724]-Oh, Zeus from Hercules. Yeah.
- [00:03:47.185](Who put the glad in gladiator?)
- [00:03:49.562]I've only seen this in “Hercules.”
- [00:03:53.691](singing)
- [00:03:56.069](music playing)
- [00:04:02.408]Over at the Vietnam War Memorial
- [00:04:03.576]I was able to find a name on the wall of somebody that my grandpa
- [00:04:07.038]served with in the war that was killed in action,
- [00:04:10.208]and my grandfather's still living, so I was able to send back a picture of his name - Wow.
- [00:04:13.878]in the wall.
- [00:04:19.008]-What a beautiful scene.
- [00:04:19.926]It's actually really nice to be walking.
- [00:04:27.517]-Oh, there's
- [00:04:27.809]so many, like, historical things that you can see.
- [00:04:30.853]It's just it's hard not to, like, I think, fall in love with the place. And.
- [00:04:35.525]Yeah, you just.
- [00:04:36.985]You can learn a lot by just being down in DC and it's it's really
- [00:04:41.656]It's a really fun experience.
- [00:04:44.200]Yeah.
- [00:04:44.409]Come on guys find your window.
- [00:04:51.291]One more time.
- [00:04:56.170](laughing)
- [00:04:58.381](screeching)
- [00:05:00.216]Get the right shot, Donny.
- [00:05:02.385]Ooo, that's looking good.
- [00:05:08.266]-Words from the musical “Hamilton.”
- [00:05:09.976]So we hold these truths to be self-evident,
- [00:05:12.645]that all men are created equal.
- [00:05:14.689]And when I meet Thomas Jefferson, I'm going to
- [00:05:16.607]tell him I'm going to include women in the sequel.
- [00:05:19.569]Work.
- [00:05:20.069]That's the hardest part for me.
- [00:05:25.366]-Say hi
- [00:05:25.783]Doctor Eklund
- [00:05:27.618]-Hi, Sofia.
- [00:05:31.956]-All right,
- [00:05:32.248]we're on our way to rehearsal in the ballroom.
- [00:05:35.918]So we're supposed to be there in a couple of minutes, but,
- [00:05:38.921]But everybody's going to be late.
- [00:05:40.840]Well, we've made it to our hotel in Washington, D.C..
- [00:05:43.509]We found our rehearsal space.
- [00:05:45.887]First time we're going to hear everybody at once.
- [00:05:47.847]Here we go.
- [00:05:48.556]Yes!
- [00:05:50.350](singing)
- [00:05:54.437](Oh beautiful, for spacious skies)
- [00:06:01.778](for amber waves of grain.)
- [00:06:07.575]-Wow.
- [00:06:08.951](America)
- [00:06:13.539](God shed his grace on thee.)
- [00:06:21.297](This is the sound of the one voice.)
- [00:06:27.637](One people. One voice.)
- [00:06:34.018]-Good morning,
- [00:06:37.480]Husker nation.
- [00:06:39.440]-Shut up.
- [00:06:40.817]We made it to the Basilica.
- [00:06:44.112]Let's go sing, shall we?
- [00:06:48.950]Listen to the glorious sound of all the feet sqeaking.
- [00:06:52.036]True.
- [00:06:56.541](singing “Alleluia”)
- [00:07:10.555]-Our choral department is outstanding in every setting and any setting,
- [00:07:14.434]but certainly performing at the Basilica
- [00:07:16.978]is just an unbelievable experience.
- [00:07:19.939]-I think this is the peak choir experience.
- [00:07:22.900]Something like this is about as good as it gets.
- [00:07:25.486]And it's a great opportunity for everyone in the choir to have a life
- [00:07:29.657]long memory and a meaningful musical experience.
- [00:07:32.827]-One of the most beautiful places to sing in. Absolutely beautiful.
- [00:07:36.497]Forever in my brain.
- [00:07:38.291]-What are you thinking about singing for the inauguration?
- [00:07:42.253]-I think it's probably one of the greatest honors of my lifetime.
- [00:07:46.299]-I think that's great.
- [00:07:48.468]That's amazing. It's gonna make her cry.
- [00:07:50.470]-It's gonna be great.
- [00:07:55.850]-Seeing this in person is incredible.
- [00:08:03.274]-We were fortunate enough to go see the,
- [00:08:06.444]changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is really cool.
- [00:08:09.739]-What did you think of the change in the guards?
- [00:08:12.033]-I thought that it was a very somber yet beautiful ceremony.
- [00:08:17.663]I've never seen anything like that before, and it was definitely a highlight
- [00:08:21.501]of the trip so far.
- [00:08:25.421]-Go Big Red! -Day three.
- [00:08:28.674]Well, we're about to meet a congressman at the Capitol.
- [00:08:33.346]It's all barricaded off for the inauguration,
- [00:08:36.933]but here's a good looking group of singers.
- [00:08:40.478]It's snowing, and we're taking refuge with Doctor Eklund.
- [00:08:44.106]All right.
- [00:08:44.440]I don't know if you can see me through my raincoat.
- [00:08:46.192]I'm protecting the camera.
- [00:08:48.277]So I represent the first district in Nebraska,
- [00:08:50.446]and I've been here for two and a half years.
- [00:08:52.865]This is awesome to have you here.
- [00:08:54.575]Everybody in Nebraska is extremely proud of you and what you've done.
- [00:08:57.745]And you raised a lot of money to come here.
- [00:08:59.705]And so today, even though the weather's bad,
- [00:09:01.624]even though we're not going to be inside- you’re not going to be outside.
- [00:09:04.961]You're going to be in the rotunda of the US Capitol
- [00:09:06.879]for something that very few Americans get to witness.
- [00:09:09.006]Is it an umbrella?
- [00:09:12.051]-It's the next best thing. -Oh.
- [00:09:17.181]I'm a proud UNL alum, so thank you very much.
- [00:09:20.017]This is the peaceful transition of power in the world's sole superpower.
- [00:09:23.354]And, the students from University of Nebraska–Lincoln are going to have
- [00:09:26.440]a front row seat in the United States rotunda to see it happen.
- [00:09:29.860]You know, I don't care who you voted for, what your politics are.
- [00:09:32.530]That's pretty cool.
- [00:09:33.281]-Hey, Pete.
- [00:09:34.657]-Hey, there.
- [00:09:38.536]-We're about to go rehearse
- [00:09:39.495]with the “President's Own” Marine Band. So it's really exciting.
- [00:09:43.583]It's going to be our soundcheck for tomorrow morning,
- [00:09:46.210]so I hope everything goes well, which I'm sure it will.
- [00:09:49.589]We're going to be super flexible, and we're going to have a lot of fun.
- [00:09:53.259]-Everybody.
- [00:09:55.803]Oh, this is great.
- [00:09:57.597]Where are you all from? No,
- [00:10:00.558]The Senate always does the planning.
- [00:10:02.685]Don't tell the House.
- [00:10:05.062]And the Senate always sets the planning.
- [00:10:07.148]There are six members
- [00:10:08.190]on what's called the Joint Congressional Committee
- [00:10:11.944]that does the planning for the inauguration. So
- [00:10:15.948]Senator Schumer was a majority leader at the time.
- [00:10:19.243]And so he's on the committee.
- [00:10:21.245]And then in the House, we have the Speaker and the Majority
- [00:10:24.624]and the Minority Leader as well.
- [00:10:26.626]So the six of us are kind of the members of the committee,
- [00:10:30.004]but Senator Klobuchar and I did the planning for it.
- [00:10:33.507]So when I, found out that I was going to be able to,
- [00:10:38.679]recommend a musical group,
- [00:10:42.141]I said we have to have representation from the university.
- [00:10:45.936]Thank you for doing this. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
- [00:10:53.986]-It’s so cool.
- [00:10:55.154]I don't think it really set in until like, right now, right?
- [00:10:58.282]I'm excited to hear what it sounds like. I think it will be cool.
- [00:11:01.661]Once in a lifetime opportunity.
- [00:11:03.454]-I guess we're lucky that, you know, since it's been moved inside,
- [00:11:06.999]it was going to cut but then someone
- [00:11:08.417]was like, “Let's have music.”
- [00:11:10.336]So I'm very excited.
- [00:11:11.712](singing)
- [00:11:27.478]-That was really cool.
- [00:11:29.230]I'd say it was pretty cool
- [00:11:30.481]like just singing all together and just like
- [00:11:34.235]we feel very united.
- [00:11:36.278]Yes. It’s very cool.
- [00:11:38.489]-We're going to eat, we're going to sleep.
- [00:11:40.700]We're gonna come back, we're gonna be ready.
- [00:11:43.411]We're gonna be ready for a rehearsal. Okay?
- [00:11:45.955]This is going to be a rejuvenating time, okay?
- [00:11:48.249]We're going to come back fresh, and then we're going to wake up at 3 a.m..
- [00:11:51.043]-And then we're going to sing our hearts out.
- [00:11:53.921]Yeah.
- [00:11:55.756]Representing the Go Big Red!
- [00:11:59.385]-I had a really nice moment in the rotunda.
- [00:12:03.055]I called my mom, I Facetimed her while we were standing there.
- [00:12:06.559]And I was like, okay, mama, you gotta be quiet.
- [00:12:09.311]And I, like, showed her the rotunda.
- [00:12:11.021]And she was crying and I was crying. -My goodness.
- [00:12:13.858]It was just really beautiful.
- [00:12:14.859]-So you're going to make me cry.
- [00:12:17.570]-And then we sang and I was crying then.
- [00:12:19.071]-Yeah, it was beautiful in there.
- [00:12:20.239]-I’m just really grateful for this opportunity.
- [00:12:22.032]-Oh. Agreed. Yeah.
- [00:12:23.617]-The people back home are all tuning in and rooting for you,
- [00:12:27.705]and we know that you will exceed all of your own expectations
- [00:12:32.835]and all of the expectations of the citizens of the great state of Nebraska.
- [00:12:37.882]So thank you all.
- [00:12:38.966]I'm so glad to be the Chancellor of the University,
- [00:12:41.802]and so glad to be on this journey with each of you.
- [00:12:51.103](singing)
- [00:12:58.569]-Music unified cultures.
- [00:13:00.404]It unifies everything.
- [00:13:06.368]I personally
- [00:13:07.244]am Guatemalan, so I have I grew up playing the marimba.
- [00:13:13.125]I grew up playing that in church and that kind of stuff.
- [00:13:15.586]That was the beginning of my musical career and
- [00:13:20.382]it really taught me that whether or not you speak
- [00:13:23.677]the same language, you can definitely communicate through music.
- [00:13:27.765]And even though we all didn't speak the same language, we were still able
- [00:13:30.684]to make beautiful music and just have so much fun with it.
- [00:13:35.231]And this is just another thing, like music,
- [00:13:36.941]like I've seen it in my own experience.
- [00:13:38.818]People see it all around the world.
- [00:13:40.194]Music unifies.
- [00:13:42.696]It's it's just it's just the way of the world.
- [00:13:44.615]It's it's the beautiful thing about this art that we do
- [00:13:47.326]and that we are so lucky to do, and that we are so lucky to
- [00:13:51.413]be able to share with people.
- [00:13:56.126]-How are you?
- [00:13:57.545]Good. Are you excited?
- [00:14:00.256]-Yes. -Woo!
- [00:14:01.674]That's great.
- [00:14:03.217]This is going to be incredible.
- [00:14:04.385]I can't believe we're doing this.
- [00:14:06.136]We feel nothing but gratitude I think I speak for everyone.
- [00:14:09.098]Gratitude. We're honored.
- [00:14:10.933]We say thank you to all Nebraskans who made this possible.
- [00:14:14.353]-A blast of Arctic air will bring a polar plunge to a large stretch of the country
- [00:14:18.899]this weekend.
- [00:14:19.400]We're talking about highs
- [00:14:20.317]that are 20 to 40 degrees below average across much of the nation.
- [00:14:25.364]-This was, moved inside because of the cold.
- [00:14:27.408]Would you say that's a good decision?
- [00:14:28.784]-Yeah, right now, yes.
- [00:14:31.996]Yeah.
- [00:14:33.038]I-'m very glad I'm not going to be singing in this.
- [00:14:36.250]We have lots of interesting things happening.
- [00:14:40.546]We’re getting pinned up. Safety pins.
- [00:14:42.882]We're getting rolled lint rolled, and then we are lining up
- [00:14:47.052]to get ready for our performance at the inauguration.
- [00:14:50.556]-We're going all in.
- [00:14:51.807]We are going to have the most beautiful singers this country's ever seen.
- [00:14:55.269]-We’re on a time crunch. Oh my gosh.
- [00:14:57.980]-Great universities such as ours
- [00:15:00.608]do what we do extremely well in the classroom and in the teaching labs
- [00:15:04.361]and in our research programs.
- [00:15:06.238]But the cultural side of this is critically important in the arts and
- [00:15:09.825]humanities.
- [00:15:11.118]And this is just an example of how all of that comes together,
- [00:15:14.413]because I guarantee you, every single student in this room
- [00:15:17.374]is phenomenal from an academic perspective.
- [00:15:20.044]But they're also very talented from a musical perspective,
- [00:15:22.838]which, by the way, leaves me out completely.
- [00:15:27.134]-Ladies and gentlemen,
- [00:15:28.344]singing “One Voice”, please welcome the University
- [00:15:32.973]of Nebraska–Lincoln Combined Choirs.
- [00:15:41.523](music playing)
- [00:15:50.950](singing)
- [00:17:07.985]-I mean, words really can't describe what we just did.
- [00:17:10.988]It was fantastic.
- [00:17:14.033]Just to be in that environment
- [00:17:16.118]with the idea that, you know, I may never get to be back here again
- [00:17:18.954]singing, doing the thing I love, which is singing.
- [00:17:21.248]And, you know, being a part of this group is fantastic in doing that.
- [00:17:25.210]We just got done performing.
- [00:17:26.712]We're packing up right now. It's really neat.
- [00:17:28.922]That's a that's a really, really cool place to sing in.
- [00:17:31.592]And the fact that we're
- [00:17:34.303]one in a few to
- [00:17:35.721]ever have sung in there is something that's, that's very that's very special.
- [00:17:40.059]-I was like slightly wishing there's a few more people, but honestly,
- [00:17:43.145]I don't really care.
- [00:17:44.146]It’s still cool anyway.
- [00:17:45.606]-It went so well. So beautiful.
- [00:17:48.901]And it was fun most of all.
- [00:17:50.903]Something so powerful.
- [00:17:52.488]-Oh my goodness you're right. Oh my goodness. Yes.
- [00:17:54.782]-It was really fantastic.
- [00:17:56.116]So glad you're here. Wow.
- [00:17:58.160]The Rotunda is stunning.
- [00:17:59.703]And it’s a great place to sing.
- [00:18:00.996]There's no doubt about it.
- [00:18:02.498]What's important to me is America needs amazing higher ed.
- [00:18:07.044]And we are here to help
- [00:18:08.712]remind people that higher education is really important to all of us.
- [00:18:13.634]It's a gift that just keeps on giving- The N right here.
- [00:18:17.137]And so pretty
- [00:18:18.514]glad to be a Husker right now.
- [00:18:20.891]I can't imagine a better group of people to sing “Happy Birthday” for my lead flight attendant
- [00:18:25.813]Would you please do me that favor?
- [00:18:27.523]Yeah.
- [00:18:28.148]Start us off with “Happy Birthday” to Douglas.
- [00:18:31.568](Happy birthday to you.)
- [00:18:39.827]Woo!
- [00:18:43.413]That was awesome.
- [00:18:45.415]That's actually the best birthday
- [00:18:48.127]I have ever heard sang in my entire life. -Awww
- [00:18:52.089]Happy birthday.
- [00:18:53.048]Thank you.
- [00:18:53.799]Thank you.
- [00:18:54.716]Thank you.
- [00:18:54.758]Here we are in Nebraska.
- [00:18:58.512]What a warm welcome.
- [00:18:59.888]It's a nice, warm welcome.
- [00:19:02.766]It feels good to be back on Nebraska soil, to say the least.
- [00:19:06.270]Nebraska Nice. Okay.
- [00:19:07.646]Can I hope everyone enjoyed coming along with,
- [00:19:11.942]all of us seeing the whole shebang.
- [00:19:14.736]It was a trip to remember.
- [00:19:19.867]So when you're a Husker, you need you see the airport people.
- [00:19:24.788]They need some help.
- [00:19:26.123]So we just get out of our busses and we come help, don't we?
- [00:19:30.169]We just lend a hand.
- [00:19:31.461]We just do it right. Jaden?
- [00:19:33.172]Jaden, where's your coat?
- [00:19:35.465]We did it, Pete.
- [00:19:37.593]I can't believe it.
- [00:19:38.802]This will rank up there with the most
- [00:19:40.262]some of the most fun musical things ever I've ever done.
- [00:19:44.474]-That's awesome. -Great people. -That's right.
- [00:19:49.771]We did it!
The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!
You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.
Log in to post comments
Embed
Copy the following code into your page
HTML
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%; overflow: hidden; position:relative; -webkit-box-flex: 1; flex-grow: 1;">
<iframe
style="bottom: 0; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; border: 0; height: 100%; width: 100%;"
src="https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/24066?format=iframe&autoplay=0"
title="Video Player: One Voice: Behind-the-Scenes of UNL Choir’s Journey to Perform at Presidential Inauguration"
allowfullscreen
></iframe>
</div>
Comments
0 Comments