 " Ave Maria " was a part of the set list during Knowles ' I Am ... Tour ( 2009 @-@ 2010 ) , where she performed the song dressed in a wedding dress and blended it into Sarah McLachlan 's " Angel " ( 1998 ) . The wedding dress Knowles wore during the tour , was originally designed as a black dress and was designed by Thierry Mugler . Her mother and designer , Tina Knowles , made the dress stage @-@ appropriate so Knowles could dance in it . When Knowles performed the song in Sunrise , Florida on June 29 , 2009 , animated graphics of turntables , faders , and other club gear throbbed behind her and her musicians . Knowles was accompanied by her two drummers , two keyboardists , a percussionist , a horn section , three backup vocalists called the Mamas and a lead guitarist , Bibi McGill . According to Parke Puterbaugh from News & Record , the strangest moment of the concert was Knowles ' " unironic delivery " of " Ave Maria " , for which she was attired in a wedding dress and veil . 
