From Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Pennsylvania Avenue.

Perfect Harmony, composed of three vocalists and a piano accompanist who reside in the county, had the honor of performing at the White House on Dec. 2, the first day of the Christmas open house.

Wearing traditional Victorian costumes made by group member Ric Zimmerman, Perfect Harmony sang Christmas tunes in the East Room. "It was beautiful. Really beautiful," said Zimmerman, who lives in Lancaster.

Zimmerman, his sister Donna Jones from Columbia, and Kat Prickett from Lancaster were joined by piano player Katrina King of New Holland. Jones was filling in for Sarah Poague of Columbia, who had given birth and was unable to attend the White House performance.

"For me, that was really special," said Zimmerman. "First of all, to have the opportunity to sing at the White House, and then to create that memory with my sister. We'll always have that for the rest of our lives. We'll have that memory of something special that we got to do together, which is really neat."

Many of the attendees were on tours. "A lot of people came and stood and listened to sing through several songs because they would move on, and it was neat," said Zimmerman. "It was all people, all ages and families, children, and it was fun seeing even the children all dressed up. It was obviously a very special event for people that were there. Seeing people's faces when they would come into the room where we were singing was beautiful, and then I think the music that we provided just added an extra touch of Christmas and just made it really special for people."

Perfect Harmony performed near a 1797 portrait of George Washington, which was saved by Dolley Madison during the War of 1812. "The Lord provides these opportunities and everything that comes our way," said Prickett. "We think about it and process it, and it's just really neat to see how God provides these opportunities."

The White House held a search for performers over the summer. "I had a couple people send it to me because they thought it'd be a really cool opportunity for us to do, and I just filled out the application," said Prickett. "I sent them a little video of us singing a Christmas carol and kind of forgot that I did it."

She learned in early September that Perfect Harmony had been chosen. "I couldn't really believe it because we found out that out of the thousands or whatever that applied, they only take 24," Prickett said. "It's a tremendous honor to be invited and then get to represent our state and our community and then to be in that space surrounded by the history and the grandeur of the White House is so beautiful."

Perfect Harmony was formed eight years ago. "We were cast together in a show with Servant Stage, and we loved how we sounded, and we wanted to keep singing together," Prickett said. "We kept talking about that and then came up with the name Perfect Harmony. We were sitting in Ric's living room. After that show closed, we decided we wanted to keep singing and went out on our own."

Prickett was also doing another show at that time, and she needed to replace people that were in it. "Since we were already singing together, Ric came on board, Sarah came on board," said Prickett. "Because of that, it gave us the launching pad to keep going places and singing places and getting invited places."

In addition to the White House, Perfect Harmony has performed at Dollywood, in New Jersey and Ohio, and at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C. "It's just really neat to see how God is using what we do and that we can impact people," Prickett said.

The musical group is based in Paradise Station, the Ronks business owned by Prickett and her husband, Tyler, which includes a hotel, restaurant, and venue known as The Barn. The Barn is the original bank barn on the property, dating to 1812. Following a renovation, it reopened in June 2023 as an event and wedding venue.

"It just so happened that we had entertainment, and we could now make this a home for what we do," she said. "We are passionate about providing original musical performances that inspire everybody that comes through these doors, and it's important to us that there's always an element of the Gospel message to it."

She is grateful for the support from the community. "We consider it an honor to be able to present what we do to people from all walks of life, and we want to impact every single person that comes into this space (at Paradise Station) or comes to one of our other concerts, no matter where that is," she said. "We just love doing what we do."