Boston Gay Men's Chorus Returns To In-Person Rehearsals

On February 2, members of the Boston Gay Men's Chorus will rehearse together in person for the first time in 700 days. When we cancelled our March 11, 2020 rehearsal in response to Gov. Baker's declaration of a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we never imagined it would take this long to get back together again. Nor could we have envisioned what would be required to safely gather again. Or just how different the world would feel.

We've learned important lessons these past two years which are translatable not just to other performing arts organizations but to all institutions working in, among, and for the LGBTQIA+ community. I'd like to share three of them with you here.

It's never too late to intentionally elevate, celebrate, and support racial, gender, and other forms of diversity. BGMC began providing American Sign Language interpreting for its audiences in 1983. In 1989 we hired a professional interpreter for all of our shows, including those performed during our international tours to Poland in 2005, the Middle East in 2015, and South Africa in 2018. In this, we have been ahead of the curve in providing ways for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to enjoy our music.

Our efforts to support racial equity did not move from ad hoc initiatives to deliberate work until 2014 when the board established a DEIA committee. At that time and ever since, we have often felt impossibly behind. And yet, in this time we've increased Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) representation among our incoming member classes from approximately less than 5 percent in 2015 to nearly one-third in 2022. We have commissioned original work by BIPOC transgender and LGBTQIA+ composers and lyricists. We are the only LGBTQIA+ chorus currently participating in a commissioning consortium writing an ode to Rosa Parks.

In 2019, we performed "Raise You Up," which explored the themes of racial injustice and human resilience. The performance was anchored by the multi-movement piece "Seven Last Words of the Unarmed" which set to music the final words of seven black teenagers and adults who died at the hands of police or authority figures. The challenging and emotionally complex material was enthusiastically received by our audiences. Prior to the mainstage performances we presented the concert for free with a facilitated discussion with the community on the issues that the piece raised. Joel Thompson, the composer came to the concert and expressed his enthusiasm at how powerful and effective the piece was when sung by a LGBTQIA+ chorus. BGMC read the names of Black trans women who had been murdered before each performance of "Seven Last Words of the Unarmed."

This foundational work to embed racial equity throughout our operations meant that in the summer of 2020 we could authentically demonstrate our support for the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, our BIPOC members, and all of BGMC stakeholders who care about racial justice following nationwide protests against police violence in the wake of George Floyd's murder. We did this by creating and releasing Black Lives Matter, a video offered in homage to Black people of all genders who have lost their lives to police violence, and Power of Protesting, a mini-documentary on the power of protest to effect social change-and BGMC's artistic contributions to social justice movements.

Our board of directors has spent the pandemic-necessitated hiatus of live performances updating our core operational documents to be move inclusive and reflective of an organization committed to racial and gender diversity. The bylaws and membership handbook were updated and staff and board members attended workshops, trainings and revised our hiring and other operational practices. That work is ongoing.

Your work to embrace all forms of diversity in support of your mission will elevate your organization to a new level. Last June, BGMC announced that it would perform Disney PRIDE in Concert, a musical celebration of LGBTQ life, love, family, and perseverance on June 25 and 26, 2022 at Boston Symphony Hall. Disney PRIDE in Concert is being produced in collaboration with Disney Concerts, the concert production and licensing division of Disney Music Group. It will feature all-new musical arrangements by BGMC Principal Accompanist and Assistant Music Director Chad Weirick. Disney PRIDE in Concert will be available for licensing in the future through Disney Concerts for performance by choruses around the world for all voice parts and voice configurations. This is the first-ever officially licensed choral concert package produced in collaboration with Disney Concerts. There is no way this project would have come together without BGMC's demonstrated track record of telling diverse stories of race and gender within the LGBTQIA+ experience.

Your odds of not just surviving, but thriving, significantly increase if you can be creative and flexible in the face of enormous difficulty and challenge. When we come together to rehearse on February 2, we will do so under a host of new rules and protocols previously unimagined. At the behest of BGMC Music Director Rueben Reynolds, our safety protocols err on the side of extreme caution. BGMC is the only LGBTQIA+ chorus in the country that has invested in air filtration systems to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 with the purchase of purchased four AeroMed HEPA filtration systems that are commonly used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Everyone who attends our rehearsals, whether they are a singing member, non-singing volunteer, BGMC staff member, musician, or sound technician will need to be fully vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19. Vaccine status will be verified through Bindle, an app that's being used by performance and sporting venues to securely check vaccine status of members, players, and audience-goers while protecting health privacy. Members will use masks specially designed for singers. All of these safety protocols are incredibly important given that singing results in additional aerial spray of droplets and has been a means of transmission of the virus.

While these protocols will likely feel strange, our being together will not. Over the past 700 days we have remained connected with one another by creating a showcase of virtual videos which have included "From Our Home to Yours: Everything Possible," "Pride 2020 Selections by Music Director Reuben Reynolds III," "Born This Way: Virtual Boston Gay Men's Chorus, "Reuben's Picks, Fourth of July," and the web series "Celebrity Spotlight." The 100+ digital offerings (including three television specials on WCVB-Channel 5) have been seen by nearly 3 million people.

In many ways our world today is unrecognizable from what it was in March 2020. What has remained the same is our mission to create musical experiences to inspire change, build community and celebrate difference. We can't wait to perform for you again.

Craig Coogan is the Executive Director of the Boston Gay Men's Chorus.

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