A Carleton College choir rehearsed for nine hours on Wednesday, six hours on Thursday and seven hours on Friday -- all in preparation for Saturday, when they will perform at the White House.
"Everything's coming together very nicely," Prof. Lawrence Burnett, director of the Carleton Singers, said by phone from Washington, D.C.
The 16-voice choir was selected to perform during the White House's annual holiday tours. Because staffers are mum about the room -- or hallway -- where the group will perform, Burnett is having the students rehearse in a slightly different formation every time. He's also researched the floor plans.
Burnett first learned that the group was being invited to apply for a performance spot back in September, he said. The call "came simply out of the clear blue."
Over the next two months, he was notified several times that the singers had made it to the next round of consideration, before receiving the final word Nov. 4.
Carleton, in Northfield, Minn., ends its fall term in mid-November. While other colleges have big holiday concerts, Carleton does not. So this is a special opportunity, Burnett said, and the students were immediately willing to give up part of their winter break.
The choir has pulled together a program that "includes as many traditions, as many cultures as possible."
A student with a Ukrainian background will sing "Carol of the Bells" in Ukrainian. In honor of President Obama, a student from Hawaii will sing a verse of "Silent Night" in Hawaiian. Then there are carols from Africa, Spain and Finland. And one from Nat King Cole.
