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TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA - The Cherokee National Youth Choir will perform at Governor-elect Brad Henry's Tulsa Inaugural Ball in Tulsa on January 10.

"We are just ecstatic to have been invited to be a part of our state's celebration," said Jamie Geneva, director for the Cherokee National Youth Choir.

The Cherokee National Youth Choir will perform two songs, including the Star Spangled Banner to kick-off the inauguration activities.

The ceremony will be held at the newly renovated Mayo Hotel Building located at 115 W. Fifth St. This will be the first event held in the hotel building since the renovation of the Grand Hall and the Mezzanine was complete. The Mayo is a Tulsa city landmark that had been closed for business since the 1980's.

"This is just so exciting because it is going to go down in history," Geneva said. "A newly renovated hotel building, a new governor, and a new millennium. It's just a very monumental event."

The NAMMY award-winning Cherokee National Youth Choir is a group of 30 Cherokee children who are selected by audition from across the 14 counties of the Cherokee Nation. Choir members use their native voices to perform songs in the Cherokee language at many special events throughout the year. Their voices reflect the richness of Cherokee pride and contribute to the preservation of the Cherokee language. The choir has performed at Ground Zero at a memorial ceremony for the victims of the events of September 11, 2001, the Unites States Capital Building, and most recently, at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

"The Cherokee culture is such a big part of the state of Oklahoma. It's just great to be recognized as such," said Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. "If you go into the Capitol rotunda, you see tributes to great Cherokees like Will Rogers and Sequoyah. The kids in this choir represent the Cherokee youth that will shape Oklahoma in the future."

The invitational inaugural gala will begin with a reception at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $250 each and can be purchased by invitation only.