Video

Video by Staff Sgt. Sadie Colbert, Senior Airman Seth Haddix, Samuel Morse, Airman 1st Class Jada Maylor

The New Colossus

2D Audiovisual Squadron

April 28, 2024 | 7:07

To celebrate America's 248th birthday, the USAF Band of Mid-America's Concert Band is joined by The St. Louis Children's Choirs performing "The New Colossus," also featuring vocal soloist Airman 1st Class Jessie Dunnavant. One of the most recognizable monuments in the United States, the Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France in 1885 and has since become a national symbol of liberty and freedom. The poem "The New Colossus" was written by Emma Lazarus in 1883 to help raise money for construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty's arrival. In 1903 it was cast onto a bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal's lower level. Lazarus considered the poem a way to comfort refugees immigrating to the United States, and to demonstrate to them that the country represented freedom, enlightenment, and compassion. Video Production: 2d Audiovisual Squadron, Hill AFB, UT Executive Producer: Maj. Justin Lewis Director: Samuel Morse Producer: Tech Sgt. Bryan Andrews Audio Engineer: Senior Airman Mike Peloquin Music by: Brett Stewart Music Arranged by: Master Sgt. Jeremy Martin Unit Operations: Senior Master Sgt. Kristen Hammiel Concert Band Enlisted Leader: Tech Sgt. Meghan Yankowskas Special Thanks to The St. Louis Children's Choirs: Dr. Alyson Moore, Artistic Director Ben Nordstrom, Executive Director Olivia Leek, Choir Manager And to the choir members and parents