200th anniversary of the star-spangled banner with speeches and a variety of performances. the program ends with the simultaneous singing of the national anthem. this event is about an hour and a half. how is everybody doing today? pretty good. i want to welcome you all to my name is xavier. today, we are celebrating our national and international flag day sing-along for the 200th anniversary of our star-spangled banner. [applause] years ago this00 year, francis scott key wrote the words to a poem in the defense of fort mchenry and set it to a british tune. together, they form our national anthem, the star-spangled banner. here we explore america s history through collections, research, and public outreach. we help people understand the past to better make sense of the present and to shape a more humane future. we are hoping that our program will be able to do much of that by bringing the nation together around our national anthem. by the way, we are not just bringing
day sing-along for the 200th anniversary of of our star-spangled banner. [applause] that s right. 200 years ago this year, francis scott key wrote the words to a poem to defense of forth mchenry and set it to a british tune and together, they formed our national anthem, the star spangled banner. here, we explore america s history through collections, research, and public outreach. we help people understand the past, to and to shape a more humane future. and we are hoping our program will be able to do all of that by bringing the nation together. we are not just bringing people together here in washington, d.c. on the national mall, but also all over our country and indeed, world. i d like to send a special welcome to our streaming audience who is watching us via youtube ustream and welcome espn, welcome all of you. it is very important that our conductors are well-known for bringing along singers from all over the world with his virtual choir projects. i would like you all