July 4
In honor of the bicentennial of the “Star Spangled Banner,” the Library of Congress hosted a concert and panel discussion on 3 July with the support of the Star Spangled Music Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Featuring baritone Thomas Hampson, pianist Matthew Thompson, and the University of Michigan Alumni Chorus, the concert included tunes penned by Stephen Foster and Francis Hopkinson, along with an audience sing-along of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Hampson, along with musicologist Mark Clague, was recently interviewed for an article that appeared in the Sunday edition of the New York Times entitled “How the National Anthem has Unfurled.” Describing the song’s rich contributions to an ongoing “process of identity negotiation,” Clague noted, “When people sing it, and when they put their whole heart and passion behind the song, they give voice to their own citizenship in a way that speaks of their vision of the country.”