Yesterday's inauguration of Barack Obama as 44th President of the United States marked a day with no shortage of historical moments. Not to be forgotten among these was the performance in the swearing in ceremony of a new piece by composer John Williams that echoed Aaron Copland's famous arrangement of the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts."

Los Angeles Times music critic Mark Swed wonders what the inclusion of such a piece in the day's official proceedings might promise for the place of classical music in the new administration. He suggests a number of artists whom President Obama might invite to the White House to signal his commitment to the arts and, most importantly, those the nation needs "not merely to sing our achievements but to communicate new ideas and to spread our voice through the land and the world."

On the list of such artists Swed recommends are, almost to a person, many Nonesuch artists and others who have collaborated with them over the years.  Here is his list of "rich, wise, inclusive original voices" he recommends to the new President:

Elliott Carter, the Kronos Quartet, John Adams, Gustavo Dudamel, Peter Sellars, Ornette Coleman, Steve Reich, John Ashbery, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Bill Viola, Yusef Komunyakaa, Robert Ashley, Osvaldo Golijov, James Levine, Philip Glass, Frederic Rzewski, Terry Riley, Dawn Upshaw, David Robertson, Ned Rorem, Kent Nagano, Robert Wilson, Laurie Anderson

"And, Mr. President," Swed asserts, "I guarantee your life will be richer and the tone of America will rise if you listen to them."

Read more from Swed on the subject at the Times's "Culture Monster" blog at latimesblogs.latimes.com.