6859: House Music.

From The New York Times…

Music in the (White) House

By Rush & Molloy

White House social secretary Desirée Rogers is firing back at critics who think the Obamas are letting pop culture cheapen the presidential residence.

The administration took some heat when it recently let Mariah Carey’s husband, Nick Cannon, use the North Lawn to tout “America’s Got Talent.” But Rogers tells us, “The President wants the White House to be a stage.

“We want Americans feeling they’re part of the house,” the stylish Rogers told us at a gathering of the Creative Coalition this week.

The Obamas’ populism — and this woeful economy — explain why they’ve chosen to host fewer grand state dinners and more public events where children are invited.

“It’s great to see a performance there,” she said. “It is more than great when you’re also teaching.”

On Monday, Wynton Marsalis was there teaching jazz. On July 21, the subject will be country music.

The Obamas dig country?

“They like all kinds of music,” said Rogers, who promised classical and Latin will follow.

And, since the White House screening room has only 42 seats, she said, “We might have a big screen on the lawn.”

Rogers, who schmoozed with a Coalition crowd that included Dana Delany, Tim Daly, Rocco Landesman and designer Nanette Lepore, said she was told the black-tie crowd at state dinners would never dance.

“So we got Earth, Wind and Fire,” said Rogers, the first African-American to hold the job. “And by the end, they were doing a conga line.”