Christian Chorus to Perform at the White House

The group will perform two 40-minute sets during a holiday reception at the White House Sunday morning.

“At first I didn’t want to tell anybody because I didn’t believe it was real,” said Chi Rho’s Matt Shurts about the invitation.

“To me, it’s an incredible opportunity,” said the Wake Forest senior from Lambertville, N.J. “I’ve been to D.C. a number of times, but I’ve never been in the White House and for my first time to be for a performance—it’s an honor.”

Although this will be Chi Rho’s first White House performance, the all-male Christian group is no stranger to the stage. They have appeared at colleges and churches across the country.

“We try to use singing as a tool to spread the love of Christ around campus, around the state and around the country,” said Judson Hollifield, a Wake Forest senior from Cary and Chi Rho’s director.

The student-run chorus was founded six years ago and has produced two albums with a third to be released in February. The group derived its name from the first two letters of the Greek spelling of “Christ” and from the Greek symbol “XP” at the center of Wake Forest’s university seal.