By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

As members of the Rouquette Choir rehearsed for their pre-Father’s Day program of hymns intermingled with spoken prayers, choir director Saundra Renard commended her singers for their rousing rendition of “This Little Light of Mine.”

“I can see it in your faces! You’re all lit up!” Renard told the group at the end of the uplifting hymn, one of 10 a cappella pieces they were practicing in the sprawling dining hall of Mandeville’s Rouquette Lodge, an independent-living residence operated by Christopher Homes.

“I need your big, deep voices for this one,” Renard said, addressing the handful of men in her mostly female choir as they moved on to the hymn “It is Well with My Soul.” Her only critique: “Modulate the volume of your voice to build up to the crescendo.”

“Beautiful!” Renard told her talented singers. “We have lots of people out sick today, but y’all are making up for the missing voices!”

Creates joy, community

Formed by Renard last fall and currently boasting about 20 active members, the choir meets every Friday for an hour-long practice – “just to have fun” and to prepare for concerts held at Rouquette Lodge every other month.

Practice always begins with a warm-up song led by pianist and choir member Evie McNeese, followed by a group prayer featuring the petitions of residents and their families.

“Having a choir is just a joyful experience,” said Renard, a New Orleans native who grew up in Los Angeles singing Latin Requiem Masses in the choir of her Catholic grammar school. “We have a couple of people here who said, ‘Thank you so much, because I was suffering from depression (before joining choir). Some of them have had strokes but they still show up. People are lonely and just enjoy getting together.”

Renard directs the choir from a podium, singing into her own microphone and passing around a second microphone to her seated choir members. Also guiding them is a booklet of 40 hymns assembled by Renard.

“We just go with the flow. Whoever shows up, we start singing,” said Renard, noting that auditions are not required to join the group.

 “All voices are welcome. We don’t care how you sing,” she said. “I am not a professional, so I tell them we’re gonna wing it; just listen to the person next to you. We started off kind of shaky, but they’re getting confident now and they’re singing out. They are hearing where they fit in!”

Singers chime in

Member Lucille Gomez, 85, said her favorite choir hymn is “I Love You, Lord” because it speaks to the prayerful dimension of singing in the lyric: “I lift my voice to worship you in my soul.”

“It’s just telling God how much you love him,” Gomez said of choir time. “Praising the Lord – that’s the best part of this. It’s like prayer. I’m singing to the Lord when I sing here. I tell people that if they want peace with the Lord, then they need to involve themselves in things they can do for the Lord.”

Janet Gaut, 87, said she grew up in choirs at church and in high school – and so she didn’t hesitate to join when the new group was announced.

“I’ve been in choirs all my life and this one is just a wonderful fellowship,” Gaut said. “I like all of the hymns, but my favorite is ‘Because He Lives, I Can Face Tomorrow.’ It’s an expression of worship and sharing with others, you know?”

‘Rouquette Idol’

Renard said the idea to form the vocal group grew out of the fun she had traveling with her fellow residents to nursing homes across the northshore to lead karaoke sessions. The choir’s first performance, held last November, was themed around the feasts of All Saints and All Souls.

“It was after COVID, and some of our residents had passed away, so I thought let’s make our first choir performance a celebration of life for all the residents who had passed away in those last three years,” Renard said.

A subsequent Christmas program included a mix of secular and religious music and a visit from Santa Claus.

By popular demand, Renard recently began alternating choir and karaoke at the Friday practices.

“I had to pray about it because I said, ‘Lord, I have a choir, so I want to keep it spiritual,’” Renard said. “But a lot of people just love karaoke. They love to come up and be the American Idol and sing all kinds of all genres. So I prayed about it and I said, ‘Let’s do this; let’s mix it up.’”

Renard, who was married for 46 years and is now widowed, has lived at Rouquette since 2015. Her past activities include serving as president of the residents’ council and as a youth group leader at St. Jane de Chantal Church in Abita Springs. In addition to directing the choir, she leads a Bible study based on the books of Catholic author Matthew Kelly using materials donated by Mary Queen of Peace Church.

“I have to keep active so I can stay out of trouble with my mind,” said Renard, who turned 76 in May. “We’re not spring chickens, but we’re still clucking!”

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