The National Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Christoph Eschenbach will premiere Peter Lieberson's Remembering JFK (An American Elegy) on January 20, 2011. Morgan Freeman will narrate its texts of President Kennedy's speeches and writings.

Commissioned by the Kennedy Center, the work's premiere is featured on the opening concert of "The Presidency of John F. Kennedy: A 50th Anniversary Celebration" on the anniversary of the 35th president's inauguration.

Less than a month before his death, President Kennedy said, "I look forward to an America which will reward achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statecraft. I look forward to an America which will steadily raise the standards of artistic accomplishment and which will steadily enlarge cultural opportunities for all of our citizens. And I look forward to an America which commands respect throughout the world not only for its strength but for its civilization as well."

Learn more from the Kennedy Center.