Daily News | These new U.S. citizens got a soundtrack played by the Philadelphia Orchestra
With hand on heart, Philadelphia Orchestra violist Che-Hung Chen listening to "The Star-Spangled Banner" with the orchestra led by Stéphane Denève before a naturalization ceremony held at the Kimmel Center Thursday, February 23, 2023.The audience filed into the concert hall. An oboist sounded an “A” to which the orchestra tuned. And the music began.
“Goosebumps,” is what Shaza Alrefai said she felt upon hearing the orchestra play at her naturalization ceremony. “When the national anthem started, because it is my ceremony, it was very emotional,” said Alrefai, from Syria. “I liked the diversity of the players, they are all from different countries.”
Plans for the orchestra to perform for a naturalization ceremony were first hatched several years ago, but the idea was thwarted by the pandemic shut down in 2020. A string trio from the orchestrain the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices in West Philadelphia, but the full orchestra had to wait until now.
On this occasion Chen wasn’t sitting on stage playing the national anthem, but, rather, was in the audience along with the other candidates from a total of 34 countries. “It was such a special feeling,” he said of hearing the orchestra play for him.
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