The Unbelievable Unflappability of Voices Rising

GALA 2008 had a familar sense of a vast gathering of all choral folk. Having been to the previous 2004 festival in Montreal, I had some idea of the overall process. This festival had our group going with pride that we have come this far as a chorus born shortly before the Montreal experience. We had a good percentage of women attending although I wished our whole membership could have the been there. Because our travel arrangements were done individually and arrivals were gradual, there was the fun of seeing our count grow over the first 24 hours. By the opening ceremonies, there were enough of us to sit together as a whole group able to make a resounding response as Voices Rising was announced. Our rehearsal schedule before GALA had us well prepared, and the concert with the Boston Gay Men's Chorus and Ireland's Gloria was an exciting pre-GALA kickoff. Once we were together in Miami, the focus became the technical rehearsal run-thru and our final group rehearsal, both being the day before our performance. Here's us at our final group rehearsal in Miami, and the view out the window of the rehearsal room.





We could feel the excitement building. I was networking with women I met on Miami's metromover and in the hotels, restaurants and concert halls. I particularly wanted to support other women's choruses and have them do the same for us. I invited and encouraged all to come to our concert block on that Tuesday, July 15th at 4pm and I distributed many of our new classy handouts to spread the VR information.

The GALA crew are precise with their timing and have a system for escorting choruses into a practice Green Room and then on and off stage with technical matters and needs being determined such as spacing, microphones, podium, etc. We had borrowed an electronic keyboard for 2 of our 7 pieces, and we had no idea that the keyboard would in fact provide us with the most suspenseful and nerve-wracking moments of our time at GALA, With only 30 minutes for all larger groups performing, timing is extremely critical because the countdown begins as the stage is approached by the first singer. If a group exceeds the time limit, the stage lights go down briefly and then off completely leaving the chorus to exit unceremoniously in darkness. We knew this firsthand from Montreal and didn't want it to happen in 2008. We had lined up efficiently with the intent to expedite our entry. We had toyed with the idea of not stopping for applause between a couple of numbers to insure more comfort of staying within the 30 minutes. We had strategized all we could anticipate, but what followed surprised us all. As Leora approached the podium to lead us, the electronic keyboard collapsed onto the stage floor. We collectively and discreetly caught our breath and tried to remain calm and poised....seemingly unflustered, but hardly the case. The crew attempted to right the problem, but not before a second collapse. Now the audience was emitting sounds of empathy. The clock was ticking. Leora stood before us and mouthed to us that she was not going to speak to the hall about what was going on in those precious passing seconds. Her choice was to smile at us and instill confidence not panic. The ultimate fix was duct tape which the crew produced as the hall applauded. With that we flowed into our set and proudly sang. Probably affected the most, Jennifer, our accompanist, had to hope that the temporary measures would hold while she played all seven pieces. We sang, we beamed, we were applauded and we walked off stage proudly well lit and within our time allotment!

Feedback has been great. People recognized us in the colorful red and black shirt combinations we wore. They told us we looked good, that our diction was clear, and that our set was diverse and appealing. The Boston Gay Men's Chorus was there to support the home team as well as friends and family.

The efforts made to get to GALA were incalculably huge, and the thirty minutes of performing were fleetingly quick, but the thrill of being on that beautiful stage with an audience mostly compiled of singers who knew what we were going through is exhilarating and enduring. It is also what pushes us on as a group of women who want to sing so we can look ahead and hopefully go to GALA in four more years!

Chris Roberts
Second Soprano

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! I mean WOW! Or to put it in other words, wow! Being a part of GALA was such an amazing and profound experience. Writing about it makes me want to put an exclamation point at the end of every sentence. It was thrilling to perform for such a large supportive crowd. As a relatively small group, we don't often get the opportunity to sing in big theaters for 1000s of people. The roar of the crowd in Miami was exhilarating. I teared up as we were leaving the stage! I loved seeing all the different groups and really marveled at the variety of size, sound, style, dress, etc. among the choruses. The only down side was the weather, which left something to be desired (wet, humid, muggy, sticky, HOT...). Thank you to all of our family, friends and supporters who made this week possible. I will SO be there again in 4 years!

Julie, Alto 1

Julie (okay, Julie's camera) took this photo of us shortly after our performance. Getting us all into place was like herding cats, so sadly, there are a few of us missing,but most of us are here. You can tell that we did well (or that we're happy to be finished!)

Part of Something Bigger

Before attending my first GALA, I knew I would enjoy all of the concerts, but the sheer magnitude of the energy, enthusiasm, and spirit present at GALA was amazing. From the exquisite performance of Ann Hampton Callaway during the Opening Ceremony to the final concert block of the youth choruses that I was able to attend before I had to head to the airport, I was consistently impressed, inspired, and elated. I had never heard Ann Hampton Callaway before and her vocal ability, her rapport with her audience, and her sense of humor were mesmerizing. I made sure to buy one of her CDs at the GALA store.

All week I had been looking forward to hearing the youth groups perform, although I knew because of my departing flight time, I would not be able to see all of them perform. I got to see the Mosaic Youth Chorus from Denver (listen to them on their myspace page), Dreams of Hope, from Pittsburgh (check out their website), and one song from New York City's, Youth Pride Chorus' set. Dreams of Hope blew me away with their combination of theater and song. The youth held the stage on their own, without any artistic director or accompanist. They shared about their lives and had the audience laughing like crazy at their humorous sketches. I was so inspired by this group of young people who have the self confidence at their age to be part of a GLBT chorus. I want to help see to it that Boston creates a youth chorus.

Another highlight for me was seeing the Seattle Men's Chorus perform as they were the first Gay Men's Chorus that I got to know, when I lived in Seattle for seven years. A good friend of mine used to sing with them. You can see them singing with their sister chorus, Seattle Women's Chorus, below (from the very same Festival performance we attended!):



I have always loved to watch their ASL interpreter, Kevin Gallagher, because he is so very talented at what he does, conveying the feeling of every piece they sing. His performance at GALA broughtthe house down, which was hysterical to watch.

Of course it was a thrill to perform for the GALA audience, but I got the most out of watching all of the other groups. When I think about the collective influence that all of these groups have in the communitites where they sing to bring about change in our society, I realize how large the movement is. I am proud to be a part of it!

Sarah, Second Soprano

Blogger. Slacker. Compare. Contrast.

It has been pointed out to me that I have been remiss in my duties as blogmistress (ooh!). I am sorry for the negligence (which is different than being sorry for negligees, which I am not--interesting....do they have the same word origin???). My sincere apologies. (which reminds me of that old Romanovsky and Phillips (if you don't know their music--which you really should--you are a) young, b) straight) or possibly c) Canadian) song, "I'm A Wimp":

"...Took my shirt to the cleaners
In an hour they'd have it Martinized
I should have complained when they ruined it
But instead I apologized..."

And then there's the issue of veracity. Blech. Okay, they're right. This blog is WAY behind. Heck, it's about our preparations for GALA and we've already been to GALA and come back again (I know, it's shocking).

In the interest of catching you up and moving on from there (today, I saw a sign on a church sign in Somerville that said "Stop trying to create a better past" or something like that. That's kind of the idea here), I present two versions:

Short version: We prepared. We raised money (lots of it--thanks!). We rehearsed. We flew. We sang. We listened. We schmoozed. We laughed. We ate cheese. We fed exotic birds. We sweated. We had a blast. We came home.

Long version: Read on, read on. I now give you, through the beauty of blogging magic, the updates, both from my pen (so to speak) and from the masses as they pour into my inbox (hint hint). Check in over the next few days--there will be several new entries in that time.

And enjoy yourselves. We sure did.