The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Candlelight concert, St. Vincent’s Chorus reach milestone
In 1971, when Helen Fogarty Willoughby was a sophomore at St. Vincent’s Academy, she and her best buddy decided they wanted to sing for the all-girls school’s chorus, which longtime school music director Patty Schreck had divided into two.
“Back then Mrs. Schreck had two groups — The Chorale and Les Chanteurs,” she recalled. “We had to audition in pairs, so Maureen Butler and I practiced, practiced and practiced the St. Vincent’s Alma Mater.”
Willoughby insists that she couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, but she felt like she had an “in” because Schreck was her godmother. The following day the names of the girls selected for the two choruses were posted in the school courtyard and everyone ran over to see who made it, Willoughby said.
The top girls were named to The Chorale, and the others were chosen for Les Chanteurs (French for the singers), or as nicknamed by Willoughby and others: “Schreck’s Rejects.” She and her best friend were part of the latter group.
Willoughby said The Chorale performed for all the “la de dahs,” like the reception for the St. Patrick’s Day grand marshal and other special occasions. Meanwhile, Les Chanteurs sang for less than glamorous events at Oglethorpe Mall and other places, Willoughby said.
But at Christmas, the groups combined for a special occasion — the Candlelight Concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (now the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist), an event that is usually standing room only.
Willoughby sang in that first concert 50 years ago this December.
“I remember it being so beautiful and solemn as we processed one by one into the Cathedral in complete darkness,” Willoughby recalled. “We each held a lit candle singing a cappella, ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel.’ As we slowly took our place on the altar, the Cathedral grew brighter and brighter by candlelight as both choruses came together.”