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Staten Island's P.S. 22 Chorus Performs at Presidential Inauguration

By Nicholas Rizzi | January 21, 2013 11:59am

STATEN ISLAND — Staten Island's P.S. 22 chorus, which has  performed at the Academy Awards and the White House Christmas Tree lighting, added another big gig to its list Monday — the Presidential Inauguration.

The 65-member fifth-grade group was scheduled to sing four songs before President Barack Obama’s swearing in — “God Bless the USA,” “Home,” “On Top of the World,” and “One Dream,” the Staten Island Advance reported.

The youngsters were invited to sing in the prelude to the 57th Inauguration by Senator Charles Schumer, chairman of the 2013 Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, in September, the Advance reported.

It made the ceremony a New York-centric occasion. The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir also performed.

The  P.S. 22 group gained fame after director Gregg Breinberg posted on YouTube videos of the Graniteville chorus covering popular songs.

Since then, the group has gathered over 50 million views on YouTube, and has shared the stage with famous musicians including Katy Perry, Tori Amos, Gym Class Heroes, Carrie Underwood and more.

The group changes members every year, and the students who were singing in Washington, D.C., were all new members.