“Music has been called the speech of angels, and it brings a special comfort to our nation,” said first lady Laura Bush about a concert given shortly after the tragic events of Sept. 11. It is now almost a year later, and Mrs. Bush will again attend this year’s Concert for America as honorary chairperson.

The Concert for America will take place on Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The concert is invitation-only, although it will be broadcast nationally on Sept. 11 from 9 to 11 p.m. on NBC-TV. Tom Brokaw will host the event as part of NBC’s two-day coverage, “America Remembers,” beginning Sept. 10.

Guests include Placido Domingo, Aretha Franklin, Enrique Iglesias and Gloria Estefan and more musical guests are also expected to attend. The National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin, will perform.

The two-hour tribute was organized by the White House, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the Kennedy Center and NBC.