Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the State Symbols topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Composer James Kevin Gray Tells Committee His Choral Piece Would Make an Apt State Anthem
Summary
The committee moved H3949, the bill to designate a choral arrangement as a state anthem, after composer James Kevin Gray described its use in multiple high schools and argued it can teach the state motto; the committee also approved minor scrivener's corrections to the bill's wording.
The Family and Veterans Services Committee advanced H3949, a bill to designate a choral arrangement as South Carolina’s state anthem, after testimony from composer James Kevin Gray.
Gray told the committee he wrote the piece to teach the state motto and said a number of high schools and colleges across the state already perform it. He read and described lyrics that reference the state’s geography and veterans’ sacrifices and emphasized the educational value: "What kids sing, they will remember, and what they will remember will change how they live," he said.
During the hearing, members found a scrivener’s error in the bill language — the text used "chose to stay" where Gray and the committee said it should be "choose to stay." The committee moved a motion to instruct staff to correct that and a related phrasing of the Latin motto so the English more closely reflects the Latin. With those scrivener’s fixes agreed, senators moved a favorable report and the bill was forwarded to the floor with no recorded opposition.
Gray listed many schools already using the arrangement and said the piece is accessible for a range of performers, making it suitable for schools and state events.
