Our Director | |
 Cate | Our Director, Cate McRitchie, has been a Sweet Adeline practically from birth...because her mother's also a Sweet Adeline! Cate sings lead in the quartet called "Lyrical", and has been our director since 2005. Cate graduated from Loyola University College of Music with a degree in Music Therapy. She was a voice major. Cate was a member of various Sweet Adeline choruses around the country, until fortune brought her to Baton Rouge in 1997 and she joined the Baton Rouge Chorus. She has been involved with Sweet Adelines in many capacities both musically and administratively. Cate lives in Zachary with her husband Doran and their various canine kiddies. |
Leads | |
Cathy | Cathy has been in three choruses since 1988. She started in Houston Horizon where she was lucky to perform either as a competitor or as a showcase chorus/mike tester chorus on the International stage 7 years in a row. During that time she moved and sang with two other choruses that had won their region the year before. She has 2 Third Place International Chorus medals and 1 Fourth Place International Chorus medal as well as several regional medals. She really loves to sing and for several years she was so dedicated that she drove 5 1/2 hours (one way) to Houston from Mandeville, La for 3 1/2 years twice a month during the competition months. Cathy has also been a member of the Thumb Area Chorus in Flint/Davison, Michigan and for the past 9 years has been with the Baton Rouge Chorus. She says this is a wonderful hobby and she hopes to be singing for many more years! |
Donna | One of our newest members, Donna, was invited to a rehearsal by a member of our chorus who happens to sing with her in their church choir. She was hooked immediately! Donna is a vivacious member and enjoys the entertainment aspect of being a Sweet Adeline. She said she is grateful to have found this outlet in her life and we all look forward to singing with her in the years ahead. |
Mindy | Mindy actually went to college (Louisiana Tech) on a Sweet Adelines scholarship! After graduation, she moved to Baton Rouge and took a position as the music teacher for both Port Allen High School and Brusly High School. We absolutely love her young and energetic outlook and feel blessed to have her beautiful voice in our chorus. |
Monica | Monica is not only the newest member of the chorus, but she is the youngest member as well! We are delighted that she has found this outlet for her singing talents. She was invited to a rehearsal by a friend and has never looked back! We hope to see Monica grow old with Baton Rouge Chorus and look forward to her keeping us just a little bit younger in the process. |
 Virginia (Magnolia!) | Virginia grew up with Barbershop as a child. Her father was a barber and knew singers. She always aspired to join Sweet Adelines, but waited until after she raised her family to join. Virginia has been a member of the Baton Rouge Chorus since 1987 -- she's now attained her B.A.T.T.Y status (Been At This Twenty Years). Virginia has been the Chorus historian for most of that time. She says "I love the friendships, the music, the performing, the new adventures, and the learning. I also love my family (children and grandchildren), my church choir and family, trivia, clean jokes, crossword and circle-the-word puzzles." |
Jane | Jane has been singing with the BR Chorus since 2005. This is the first formal chorus of any kind Jane has sung with. She enjoys the vocal education and the fellowship with the other members...plus it's just fun! |
Dawn | Dawn is a wonderful new lead. She joined the Baton Rouge Chorus this past summer as part of the first LSU Leisure Class that was held. She had added a positive attitude to our chorus. She is always willing to volunteer to help when and where ever she can. We are so happy to have her with us. |
Wendy | Wendy joined Sweet Adelines in late 2006 after singing with the group as a "Santa Baby" ( guest singer) for the Christmas season. She quickly fell in love with four part harmony as well as this great group of ladies who have a passion for singing! Although Wendy has always adored singing, she has not had any formal training since high school choir days long ago... |
Baritones | |
Emily | Emily has been singing with The Baton Rouge Chorus since 2005 after being invited by a friend to a guest night. She had heard of the Sweet Adelines organization but didn't know much about it and was a little concerned this was "a bunch of old ladies singing corny old songs". She was pleasantly surprised to discover the wide range of entertainment the chorus puts on and has been having a ball performing for the community and at regional competitions. Emily has previously sung for various church choirs but is new to a capella 4-part harmony. |
Kelly | Kelly is our newest member from our 2009 LSU Leisure Class. With her bright smile and great voice, she will be a wonderful asset to our chorus. She is so talented that she is singing a harmony part, the baritone. It is the most challenging of the four parts that we sing. Welcome aboard Kelly!! |
Gloria | Gloria has been a Sweet Adeline for many years. She started singing when she was a youngster in Ohio and once sang the National Anthem before a huge crowd at a Michigan/Ohio State game. She is our visual plan coordinator and helps us with our moves! |
Molly | Molly has been singing with the Baton Rouge Chorus since 1999. She was drawn to the barbershop sound because her father was a barbershop singer with the men's organization. SPEBSQSA (Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America). Finding out that women do this, and do it better, and have more fun doing it was GREAT!!! She is the Baritone in the Lyrical Quartet. |
Tenors | |
Patty N | Patty joined Sweet Adelines in 2000 when she was looking for another singing group besides church choir. She says "I was made to feel so welcome into the organization that the women became instant sisters and I was quickly hooked to this wonderful style of singing. All the instruction and encouragement have helped me to become a more confident singer. We have such a good time singing for the different organizations and retirement centers throughout the year but especially at Christmas." |
Patty C | Patty has been a Sweet Adeline for several years. She has been a member of this chorus and for a brief time became a member of the Crescent City Sound Chorus. We are soooooooo lucky to have her back. She is such a generous, hard working and wonderful person. Welcome home Patty! P.S. She makes a mean peanut fudge too! |
Kristina | Kristina began her membership as a Christmas chorus "Santa Baby". She sang Baritone then, but when the quartet, Lyrical, was looking for a replacement for their tenor, Kristina auditioned and found a perfect fit. She also plays clarinet with the Baton Rouge Concert Band. Kristina and her husband have a law practice together so she stays quite busy. Having these outlets for her musical talents makes her very happy! We are also very happy to have her as a member. |
Tolly | Tolly is our newest tenor! She joined in 2008 after singing the 2007 Christmas season as a “snowflake” (guest singer). She says she is having an absolute ball singing and being with other singers. She has sung with church choirs and the B.R. Symphony Chorus, in quartets and trios and as a soloist, and was in The Music Man and The Sound of Music at the Baton Rouge Little Theatre. |
Basses | |
Angie | Angie discovered Baton Rouge Chorus by attending the LSU leisure class on harmony given by Cate last summer (2009). She actually thought she was signed up to learn to play the flute, but decided acapella four part harmony was a lot of fun, too! She visited with the chorus off and on during the next year but has finally made it official. She has a beautiful bass voice and will be a wonderful addition to our sound. |
Annie | Annie is a wonderful new bass. She joined the Baton Rouge Chorus this past summer as part of the first LSU Leisure Class that was held. We will update this after we receive more information about her. |
Bette | Bette has been a member of Sweet Adelines International since 1975, and has served in almost all positions in the local chorus (except financial) and at the Regional level. She has served as Regent of Region 10 two different times when we were under a Board of Directors form of governance. Also she served as the Leader of the Ambassador Tour Chorus, which was made up of members from across Region 10. We have not toured since 9/11. One of her favorite jobs was to be the mentor to the Sweet Adeline Chorus in Suva, Fiji until an Island "uprising" caused the members to disburse, many back to their own countries. She loves to sing bass. For many years she volunteered at International Competition. Her favorite "job" is taking care of the judges. The pit is the best place to hear unamplified sound of the best chorus' and quartets that sing barbershop in the world. She retired from a job with the State of Louisiana the she loved, Director of Highway Safety, and is now working part-time at Coldwater Creek in Towne Center. |
Jan | Jan joined Sweet Adelines in 1970 shortly after moving to Baton Rouge. Besides singing, she has always been involved in the administration of the organization at the local chorus level and the regional level. In chorus she has been in every office except treasurer. At the regional level she was chief administrative officer (Regent) for six years and then served as the Membership/Marketing coordinator for more than ten years. Jan sang in Sassafrass, a registered quartet, for several years and competed twice at regional contest. She has sung bari for 37 years and for the past year has been singing bass also. Sweet Adelines is so much a part of her life that she says she would have to move somewhere with no chorus for hundreds of miles for her to stop! Jan's current challenge is to sing on International Stage in October as a member of Houston Horizon Chorus under the dual member rule. The first words out of her mouth when she meets a lively looking woman anywhere---store, gym, church, meeting, etc.--are "Do you like to sing?" If the answer is "Yes", watch out! |
Gwen | Gwen lives in Denham Springs with her hubby Alex and their 8 pup-kids. She loves to travel, sing and have fun. Gwen says, "Sweet Adelines gives me sisters with the same interest. In the past I have sung both baritone and lead, but am very happy with my new role in the bass part. Barbershop gives each part a chance to shine, and the music is so good! I love gospel music especially, but we also sing lots of other types of music like jazz, country, show tunes, contemporary, 20’s 30’s 40’s 50’s…well you get the idea. No matter what your favorite type of music is, barbershop has it. You can be a star in the chorus, in quartet, on our show stage, and in competition. Sweet Adelines is your chance to learn, laugh, live, shine!" |
Cindy | Cindy discovered the Baton Rouge Chorus through an LSU leisure class on 4-part harmony that our director, Cate McRitchie, taught in 2008. When the leisure class alum were invited to sing with the chorus during our 2009 Christmas season, she readily accepted and decided that she wanted to continue on! Cindy has previous singing experience with church choirs, but she is really enjoying our accapella harmony. |
Annette | Annette joined in 1990, and found Sweet Adelines a wonderful outlet for her creativity as well as a chance to meet and fellowship with ladies from a wide variety of backgrounds. She remembers telling her brother when she first started that she was learning to stand up straight, take deep breaths and smile! Annette had been a clarinet player and part time church choir singer, but she says this was what she needed to really learn how to sing. She even got her two daughters into singing and they both majored in voice at LSU. Now she also sings with her church choir and BR Symphony Chorus. |
Paula | Paula grew up listening to men's barbershop. Her dad loved to sing and put together quartets whenever he could. There's just nothing like that wonderful barbershop harmony! It was many years before she learned that women could sing it too and many more before she finally sought out the Baton Rouge Chorus. After growing up singing alto in a town where only sopranos had "pretty voices," Paula was surprised and delighted to find that every voice range has a place at Sweet Adelines. Altos are now called leads or baritones and have a large role in creating the sound. Are you a woman who sings men's tenor parts at church? We call those basses and love their deep sound. Of course, we let sopranos sing with us too, they're usually our tenor section. There are no mis-fit voices in Sweet Adelines and everyone is taught how to make the most of their voice in whatever singing range. Come join us. We need you too! |
Trish | Trish has been a member of Sweet Adelines for about nine years and a member of the Baton Rouge Chorus for most of those. She also sings bass in the Lyrical quartet. Trish as recently become an active member again after spending several years Chapter at Large. We are thrilled to have her back in the chorus! |
Virginia S. | Virginia Simoneaux has been a member of Sweet Adelines since September of 1981. She first joined La Louisiane chorus under the direction of Paul Melancon. In 1984 she transferred to the Baton Rouge Chorus. Virginia has served the organization as a member of the board, show chairperson, and other positions. One of her passions is to cook and organize events such as retreats, show and parties. She is an active member of Good Shepard Lutheran Church. She is immediate past president of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, and has also served as president of PTA, PTO, and served on several school board committees. Virginia and husband Donald will celebrate 40 years of marriage this month. They were blessed with three sons and have five grandchildren. Virginia says, "I love to read, camp, collect china cats, and people. My church and my family and grandchildren are the fabric of my life. Sweet Adelines is the thread that holds the fabric together. It’s soft as silk and strong as a titanium cable." |
