Pride Guide 2001 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
B-25
Festival drew Cincinnati choruses closer together
by Jeff Woodard
Cincinnati One of the benefits of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses Festival in San Jose, Calif., last summer has proved to be most fulfilling for Cincinnati's GLBT choruses.
"One of the great things about GALA is that it seemed to draw us closer together with our men's group," says Jeanne Doan, publicist for Muse, Cincinnati's Women's Choir.
Ask the Cincinnati Men's Chorus, and the feeling is mutual.
"What actually caused our two groups to come together is anybody's guess," says marketing director James Chappelle. “I am just very glad that it happened."
The groups will celebrate their rekindled sense of unity as the Men's Chorus hosts Muse in 8:07 p.m. concerts June 8 and 9 in Jarson-Kaplan Theater at the Aronoff Center of the Arts.
The two choruses will also work together next year to host the GALA Eastern Regional Festival in July 2002.
Cincinnati Men's Chorus
Concluding its 10th anniversary season, the Cincinnati Men's Chorus will welcome back former chorus members and friendsas well as new ones-in "Coming Home." Reminiscing and reflecting during this mile-
Muse
stone, the chorus will present a program of "music that has changed our lives," says Chappelle. "It lives on in our hearts and in the hearts of our audience members."
On the program will be "Diversity," the first song ever performed by the chorus (1991), "We Shall Be Free" (1993), “Freedom Come" (1996) and “We're Not Lost, We're Here" (1998).
Tossing in "the best of what we heard at
GALA Choruses Festival in San Jose," Chappelle says the Men's Chorus plans a grand set to conclude its first decade. Tickets
($22, $17 and $14) are available by calling 513542-2626 or 513-241-7469 (241-SHOW); visiting any Ticketmaster outlet, ticketmaster.com or cmc.bigstep.com, or stopping by the Aronoff Center or Music Hall box offices. Chappelle says Muse's presence at this concert will be very special. “[Muse director] Cathy Roma was invaluable during CMC's infant years. She was, and still is, a great resource for CMC and many other GALA choruses," says Chappelle. "In fact, thanks to Cathy and the members of Muse, CMC's debut of Hearing Voices in San Jose last year was a much larger success."
Other Men's Chorus successes this season have included its "Don We Now" program, a holiday event featuring the Nutcracker
Suite, "Deck the Halls" and the Freedom Train Suite, a commissioned piece by Steve Malloy of Indianapolis. In addition, the chorus set its clocks to "Standard Time" for its spring concert, highlighted by the music of the Gershwins and Cole Porter.
Muse and the Cincinnati Men's Chorus will be the special guests of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra at 8 p.m. June 29 and 30 in a pair of outdoor, Broadway-flavored concerts at Riverbend.
Muse: Cincinnati's Women's Choir
A premier force in the women's choral movement, Muse began the 2000-01 season with more than 20 concerts, workshops, conferences, festivals and rallies on its plate.
Its members will sing a short set of its own and collaborate with Men's Chorus this weekend on four selections: Ysaye Barnwell's "We Are;" "Nkosi Sikelel'I Afrika”—previously banned, now the national anthem of the democratic South Africa; "One Voice," by Pamela Martin, and "Seasons of Love" from Rent.
Highlights of the past nine months have included an October concert with guest star Holly Near; a performance of “Soundings” at the 12th annual St. John's Choral Concert Series in November; and a "new spirituals" concert, "Guide My Feet-Celebrating Tra-
Cincinnati Men's Chorus
dition," with Linda Tillery in January.
In mid-May, Muse presented its 18th annual spring concert, "Listen to the Voices From the Mountains." Guest artist Katie Laur, a popular Appalachian musician renowned for her talents as a singer, songwriter and guitarist, was the featured performer. A "bluegrass band" comprised of Laur and Muse singers (on guitar, banjo, string bass, fiddle and mandolin) blended with hard-hitting songs about the lives of miners for a varietyfilled program.
Nearly one-third of Muse's singers are of Appalachian descent. Says Roma, “We honor the enduring spirit of all peoples and reinforce the value of our pluralism both by the repertoire we choose to sing and by our commitment to diversity within our own membership."
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