Saint Gertrude students participate in the 2016 Song Contest. (Photo courtesy Saint Gertrude High School)
It’s almost spring, and for many that means shaking off the last chill of winter and looking forward to longer days. For the students at Saint Gertrude High School, it also means preparing for the largest and most anticipated social event in the school year — the Song Contest.
Every year, the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior classes face off in a heated singing competition, using the lyrics of popular songs and choreography to document student life at the Catholic school. Think "Glee" meets "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit," with the competitive edge of "Gladiator." It sounds quaint, but the energy around the Song Contest is intense as any NCAA basketball playoff game. There is no trophy, only the glory of knowing that your class bested all others with the cleverness of lyrics, ingenuity of moves and expressiveness of sound. (As a former student and Song Contest participant, I can attest to the excitement of it all.)
The event was started in 1950 by Mary Anne Waymack and the school’s athletic association and follows the tradition of choral tournaments at women-only schools such as Pittsburgh's Chatham University, which has a similar contest.
The competition started in the basement classrooms of Saint Gertrude, a space students affectionately call "the dungeon." The yearly event subsequently outgrew the Benedictine High School gym, the Arthur Ashe Center and the Carpenter Center, and this year's Song Contest will take place at the 3,565-seat Altria Theater.
"How special for those girls to stand on that Richmond-famous stage and be the star for one evening — it gives me chills just thinking about that experience for them," says Bridgette Guedri Beyer, a 2003 Song Contest leader. "I can still feel that anxiety, anticipation and excitement when I’m watching from the audience, which brings back some of my very best high school memories."
The Saint Gertrude High School Song Contest will be held at the Altria Theater on Friday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. Free. 804-358-9114.