Mormon Tabernacle Choir member quits, refuses to sing for Trump

The Mormon Tabernacle choir

At the request of the U.S. Presidential Inauguration Committee, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has accepted an invitation to sing at the swearing-in ceremony during the presidential inauguration at the Capitol in January in Washington, D.C. The inauguration ceremony for President-elect Donald J. Trump and Vice President-elect Michael R. Pence is scheduled for January 20, 2017.

Trump will take the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States.The inaugural committee has announced The Rockettes, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and 16-year-old “America’s Got Talent” star Jackie Evancho.

The church announced on its website Thursday that the 360-member volunteer choir will sing at Trump’s swearing-in ceremony.

In 1965, the Mormon Tabernacle choir sang for President Lyndon B Jonhson’s inauguration

The group has performed at a handful of other presidential inaugurals, including those of presidents George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush and 

The new development

Jan Chamberlin, a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is quitting the group and saying that she could never sing for Trump.

She sent a resignation letter to the choir president this week.

“I’ve tried to tell myself that it will be all right and that I can continue in good conscience before God and man,” Chamberlin wrote in a Facebook post. “I only know I could never ‘throw roses to Hitler.’ And I certainly could never sing for him.”

Chamberlin said she has concerns about the choir’s reputation after performing at the inauguration.

“Looking from the outside in, it will appear that Choir is endorsing tyranny and fascism by singing for this man,” she wrote.

“Tyranny is now on our doorstep; it has been sneaking its way into our lives through stealth. Now it will burst into our homes through storm,” Chamberlin added.

The choir did not return a request for comment. Boris Epshteyn, a spokesman for Trump’s inaugural festivities, simply said, “We’re honored to have the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform in the 58th Inauguration, their sixth time participating in inaugural ceremonies, and we look forward to their uplifting performance.”

Phoebe Pearl, a dancer with the Rockettes, reportedly had previously protested on Instagram about the group being chosen to perform at the event. Her post has since been deleted.

The Madison Square Garden Company, which operates the Rockettes, previously said the dancers would not be compelled, by MSG or their union, to perform at this month’s inaugural festivities.

The committee for Trump’s inauguration has not yet publicized any major celebrities performing at the event — a change from the past two events.