"A classical quartet gets the prime spot between the
   swearing-in of Vice President-elect Joseph Biden and that
   of President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday. And along the
   way, a 56-year-old musical injustice will be rectified....."

This article from Variety was written before the Inauguration, but
provides some background on the the John Willams piece played by Gabriela
Montero, Anthony McGill, Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998645.html?categoryid=3522&cs=1

A personal note--having been on the Mall that day with my family,
shivering in below-freezing weather with noticeable wind chills, I had
to wonder (watching on one of the Jumbotron screens set up around the
area) how these four musicians were able to keep their fingers moving
during the performance, or hold their embouchure in the cold (in Mr.
McGill's case), let alone keep the instruments in tune!  They were
certainly not sheltered from the weather, given their placement on the
Capitol and in the bright sunlight (and please don't tell me that they
'synced' their performance!.

Via another source, it appears that Mr.  Ma also played at another
Presidential event, at age seven for the Kennedys in the White House,
in a concert led by Leonard Bernstein.

Bill H.

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