Singer/waitress entertains diners at Geneva restaurant

Katherine Terrell doesn't just whistle while she works. She sings.

As a longtime server at Niche restaurant in Geneva (and before it Chez Francois and 302 West), Terrell croons greetings to her co-workers, announces orders to the kitchen crew in lilting melodies, and sings stanzas from Broadway shows while setting up the dining room for evening service.

"We've been listening to her back in the kitchen for years," chef Jeremy Lycan said, referring to her as The Songbird of Niche.

Lycan wanted others to be able to enjoy her sparkling soprano notes, so recently he rented a baby grand piano and invited Terrell to perform at the restaurant's Concert Between Courses dinner series.

For Terrell, it was an opportunity for the maturing professional opera singer to give her pipes their first performance following thyroid surgery in 2009.

Terrell, of Elgin, hasn't officially retired from professional singing but admits that after 28 years of performing in operas around the globe (she toured for a time with the Boston Pops) and in Broadway productions, the roles for a woman of a certain age don't come as frequently.

"I was fortunate that for a good 20 of those years I didn't have to wait tables," she says. "The roles have really wound down, so I'm doing the waitressing more than the other now."

A year ago her doctor noticed small lumps in her neck that she didn't even feel. Those lumps turned out to be cancerous so she had them removed, knowing the surgery could mean the end of her singing career.

"With the surgery, there's no promise that they won't destroy your voice forever," she said.

She praises her surgeon for preserving her voice and went though months of rehabilitation to tune up the pipes.

"I didn't sing for quite some time," she said. "I've performed for so long that the muscles did remember what it was like to perform."

She enjoyed the weeks leading up to the Niche performance as she selected favorite songs from throughout her career, including selections from Puccini, Andrew Lloyd Weber and George Gershwin.

"I was just thrilled to get a standing ovation," she said following the performance.

Terrell said she's hopeful her evening at Niche will lead to other roles in the community and said the restaurant is already tossing around the idea of having her perform again. An edited video of her February cabaret-style sets will be available at the restaurant Web site, www.nichegeneva.com.

"It's not so much about me, it's about the restaurant," she said. "About everything we do there."

She added that she's available to sing at all manner of events in the community, from baseball games to weddings.

"I miss performing; it's what defines me," she says. "You have to perform every once in a while to satisfy your soul."