Villa Park-based chorus to perform in White House

The Villa Park-based Canterbury Carollers are making a return visit to the White House this month.

The Victorian Christmas Caroling ensemble, which has been singing together since 1987, performed there in 2005 and 2006.

"Oddly enough, it's becoming a tradition to sing at the White House," said Andrew Thies of Bensenville. "It's exciting."

The carolers are one of more than 55 groups of performers to entertain guests at the White House during the holidays this year. The only other Illinois group is the Barrington High School Madrigal Singers, who performed Dec. 13.

"It's really flattering and such an honor to be considered," said singer and ensemble manager Lisa Baggott-Miller of Villa Park. "You have to kind of pinch yourself when you're there."

White House visitors often will stop and pose for pictures with the group, she said.

"It is a pleasure to sing for the guests," Baggott-Miller said. "To see the looks on people's faces is fabulous."

The group strives to be a live tableau of Victorian England and its strolling carolers with its blended a cappella harmonies of songs all written before 1870.

Their authentic costumes and attention to selecting carols true to the Victorian Age has proved to be popular with Christmas audiences, Baggott-Miller says.

"When people think of Christmas carols, that's the picture that comes to people's minds - the Dickens era," she said.

The group typically performs about a dozen events each year but are scheduled for a record 20 performances this year, including two on one night, she said.

Past performances have included then Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar's Christmas Party at the Field Museum, "Dining with Dickens" at the Art Institute and the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

While they haven't seen the President on past visits to the White House - nor expect to see him this time - they believe that President Bush has heard them. When they noticed gaps in visitors and movement behind a nearby screen during a past performance, a Secret Service agent explained that the President was moving through the house and he was near enough that he certainly heard the ensemble, Baggott-Miller said.

But she said it is an honor "just to sing in the White House."

Thies said it is impressive merely being in the building where so much history occurred.

"You constantly have tingles when you walk through it," he explained.

The Canterbury Carollers also include Susan Eastwood of Villa Park, Nikki Carnevale of Elmhurst, Daniel Miller Villa Park, Charles Ziehn of Oak Park, and Elmhurst residents Leslie Menconi, Kris Sandrock and Alan Weiger.

For details about the ensemble, see Canterburycarollers.com.