Capital Performances

The Subtleties , a Dartmouth all-women a cappella group, made a splash with their winter tour of Washington, D.C. In addition to gigs at the State Department, a holiday party for the Dartmouth Club of Washington, the Children’s Hospital, and Walt Whitman High School, the group performed on Dec. 13 at a holiday press party at the White House, where they were welcomed by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.

The White House and the State Department performances (where the group met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) were arranged with help from D.C. newscaster Barbara Harrison, mother of Subtleties member and tour director Alexandra Corriea ’09. At the White House, the group performed for a party thrown for members of the D.C. television media. As the guests arrived, says Emma Baumgartner ’08, the group’s president, the Subtleties serenaded them with holiday favorites in the East Wing.

Performing with Corriea and Baumgartner were Tessa Peart ’09, Emily Mirengoff ’10, Allison Curreri ’09, Elizabeth Warnack ’10, Aurora Coon ’09, Tess McLoud ’10, Jane Tucker ’09, Amy Flaster ’08, Samantha Abrams ’11, Natalie Lyon ’11, Alexandra Tucker ’11, Nora Cropper ’11, and Christine Paquin ’09.

This is the second occasion in six months on which a Dartmouth group has been invited to the White House. In June 2007, members of the Dartmouth Ski Team, which won the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Skiing Championship, visited the White House for a celebration of NCAA champions hosted by President Bush.

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