Mary Millben | |
---|---|
Born | |
Alma mater | Putnam City High School; The University of Oklahoma |
Occupations |
|
Musical career | |
Genres | World Music |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, violin |
Years active | 2008 – present |
Website | marymillben |
Mary Jorie Millben is an American singer, [1] actress and media personality. Millben has performed for three consecutive U.S. Presidents: George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. [2] [3] In addition, Millben has been a featured soloist for notable international royalty including Queen Noor of Jordan and Princess Basmah bint Saud Al Saud. [4] Millben is the founder and CEO of JMDE Enterprises. She is featured in the online series Impact Now. [5] Millben is a 2010 Helen Hayes Award Nominee.
Millben was born and grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is the daughter of Michael Millben, a Baptist and Pentecostal minister. Her mother, Althea Millben is a classically trained soprano and a retired Pentecostal music pastor. Millben started singing at the age of five in the children's choir at Wildewood Christian Church in Oklahoma City. Her parents divorced in 1987 and Millben was raised by her mother. Millben attended Putnam City High School. [6] Millben studied opera at the University of Oklahoma under tenor Don Bernardini. [7] Millben was elected the second OU African-American female Student Body President in 2004 and the first OU African-American female vice-president in 2003. [8]
In 2005, Millben worked as a summer White House intern for President George W. Bush and as a White House presidential appointee for President Bush from September 2006 to January 2009. Millben was invited by former First Lady Laura Bush as a guest soloist for the 2008 White House Holiday Season. In 2009, Millben left the government and accepted the role of Wanda in an equity show, Crowns, at Arena Stage. [9] Millben was a guest soloist, with Grammy Award winner Tramaine Hawkins, for the inauguration of The Honorable Barbara Lee (D-California) at the Congressional Black Caucus ceremonial swearing-in at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., a back-up singer for Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce in the 2009 “We are One” Obama Lincoln Memorial inaugural concert, [10] [11] and backup singer for the Super Bowl XLIII halftime show with Bruce Springsteen. Millben performed alongside Bill Cosby at the 2010 Best of Black Business Awards ceremony. She starred as Sister Pauletta Denise Jones in the Washington, D.C., 2010 premiere of a new musical, Sanctified. [12] [13] [14] A review in the Washington Examiner praised her strong soprano voice. [15] In 2013, Millben headlined a solo concert for Europe's celebration of Black History Month in Zagreb, Croatia. [16] Upon invitation from Cui Tiankai, the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Millben performed The Star-Spangled Banner and the March of the Volunteers for the 40th Anniversary of U.S.–China Student Exchanges at the Embassy of China in Washington, D.C., on November 21, 2019.
In August 2020, Millben performed India’s national anthem Jana Gana Mana for the 74th anniversary of India's Independence. In June 2023, Millben performed the National Anthem of India at the Ronald Reagan Building during the US visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. [17] After the 2023 Manipur violence, Millben tweeted in support of Prime Minister Modi and criticized the Indian opposition for speaking out against Modi. [18] Milliben echoed support for Citizen Ammendment Bill passed by Indian parliament and called it a true democratic move. On July 18, 2024, Millben performed the national anthem on the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention. [19] [20]
Millben is a devout Christian. [21] Millben has three sisters, Micthea Millben-Ireland, twin sister Michelle Millben, and sister-in-law Melissa Millben along with one brother, Malachi Millben.
John Cameron Fogerty is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty, he founded the swamp rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he was the lead singer, lead guitarist, and principal songwriter. CCR had nine top-10 singles and eight gold albums between 1968 and 1972, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
Francis Anthony Keating II is an American attorney and politician who served as the 25th governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003.
Toby Keith Covel was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman.
Thomas Jeffery Cole is the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 4th congressional district, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party and serves as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Before serving in the House of Representatives, he was the 26th Secretary of State of Oklahoma from 1995 to 1999.
Lisa Reagan is an American singer, musician, composer, and professor of voice. Working in musical genres ranging from classical to new age, she has released eight albums. She performed with the Washington National Opera for more than 20 years.
Jana Gana Mana is a music video produced in 2000 featuring a number of prominent Indian musicians and singers performing the Indian national anthem "Jana Gana Mana." The video was released on 26 January 2000 to mark the 50th year of the Constitution of India and the Republic Day. It has the distinction of being released by the then President of India, in the Central Hall of the Indian Parliament. It was produced by Bharat Bala and Kanika Myer and published by Ministry of Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.
"Born in the U.S.A." is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen and released in 1984 on the album of the same name as its opening track. One of Springsteen's best-known songs, it was ranked 275th on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and in 2001, the RIAA's Songs of the Century placed the song 59th, remaining a favorite in classic rock. The song addresses the economic hardships of Vietnam veterans upon their return home, juxtaposed ironically against patriotic glorification of the nation's fighting forces.
Relations between India and the United States date back to India's independence movement and have continued well after independence from the United Kingdom in 1947. Currently, India and the United States enjoy close relations and have deepened collaboration on issues such as counterterrorism and countering Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific.
Shane David Jett is an American politician from the state of Oklahoma, who is the state senator from Senate District 17, which includes northern Pottawatomie County and eastern Oklahoma County. He was a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 2004 to 2010, representing House District 27. He also serves as chairman of the U.S. Treasury CDFI Fund Community Development Advisory Board.
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial was a public celebration of the then forthcoming inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States at the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on January 18, 2009. By some estimates the attendance was over 400,000.
The inauguration of Jimmy Carter as the 39th president of the United States was held on Thursday, January 20, 1977, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. This was the 48th inauguration and marked the commencement of Jimmy Carter's and Walter Mondale's single term as president and vice president. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger administered the presidential oath of office to Carter, and Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill administered the vice presidential oath of office to Mondale. This was the last inauguration held on the East Portico of the Capitol building as well as the last time the chief justice would stand to the left of the podium, with the audience facing them, while swearing in a president. Exactly forty years later, Carter attended the inauguration of Donald Trump, becoming the first U.S. president to mark the 40th anniversary of his inauguration.
Putnam City High School is a secondary school located in Warr Acres, Oklahoma, a northwestern suburb of metropolitan Oklahoma City, U.S.. It is one of three high schools in the Putnam City School District and serves more than 1,900 students. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools.
James Paul Lankford is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oklahoma. A member of the Republican Party, Lankford has represented Oklahoma in the U.S. Senate since 2015. Before his Senate service, he represented Oklahoma's 5th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015.
David Holt is an American attorney, businessman and Republican politician who is the 38th mayor of Oklahoma City and dean of the Oklahoma City University School of Law. He is a member of the Osage Nation. He served in the Oklahoma Senate from 2010 to 2018, eventually as majority whip.
Terry Neese is an American businesswoman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, she was the first woman nominated by a major political party for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma, in 1990; in 2020 she was a candidate for the Republican nomination in Oklahoma's 5th congressional district.
Alvy R. Powell Jr is an American bass-baritone opera singer and a former member of the U.S. Army Chorus. He is known for his performances at presidential events and for performing the role of Porgy in the George Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess. Before his retirement from the military in 2017, Powell was the oldest enlisted soldier in the Army.
Liora Itzhak (Pezarkar) (Hebrew: ליאורה יצחק; born 27 September 1974) is an Israeli singer of Indian origin. She was born in Israel to parents who had made aliyah from Mumbai, India. During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2017 visit to Israel, she sang Hatikvah and Jana Gana Mana – the national anthem of Israel and India respectively.
The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States took place on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, on the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It was the 59th inauguration and marked the commencement of the single term of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president. Biden took the presidential oath of office, before which Harris took the vice presidential oath of office.
Martha Broadus Anderson, later Martha B. Anderson-Winn or Martha B. Winn, was an American singer based in Chicago, and vice-president of the National Association of Negro Musicians.
Esther Lalduhawmi Hnamte is a child singer and prodigy from Mizoram, India. She became a media sensation in late 2020 when her rendition of A. R. Rahman's song "Maa Tujhe Salaam" went viral. She became the fastest viewer-gaining artists on YouTube among the Mizo people.
{{cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (help)