Heartland Men's Chorus Turns 30

Heartland Men's Chorus (HMC) has announced its upcoming season, the 30th anniversary for Kansas City's gay men's chorus. The season will begin with Kansas City Christmas, December 4-6, 2015. The title of the concert is an intentional holdover from last year's record-breaking holiday concert. "Our holiday concert is considered an annual tradition by so many in our audience," says artistic director Dustin S. Cates. "The music is different every year, but the combination of sacred holiday music and campy comic numbers never changes. We will be keeping the title Kansas City Christmas every year to underscore the concert's place as a Kansas City tradition."

Among the more traditional offerings will be four movements from Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols." Comic highlights include an arrangement of "Text Me Merry Christmas," a song which became a viral video sensation for Straight No Chaser in 2014. One holdover from last year's edition will be "Christmas in Kansas City," which Cates hopes will be an annual fixture. March 19 and 20, 2016, the group presents Perfect Pitch, a largely a cappella concert featuring intricate arrangements of contemporary popular music. Among the songs included will be "The Good Life" by OneRepublic, "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars, and the Pentatonix arrangement of the Imagine Dragons hit "Radioactive."
Deke Sharon, producer of "The Sing Off" and arranger/vocal producer for Universal's Pitch Perfect & Pitch Perfect 2, will help prepare the chorus for the performance, serving as a clinician during the rehearsal process. Special guests included in the program will be local beatboxer Luke Harbur and KC A Cappella, Kansas City's high school a cappella ensemble. The chorus closes the season with I Rise, an inspirational program and celebration of its anniversary season, June 11-12, 2016. The concert will feature guests from HMC's 30-year history, including chorus alumni and Dr. Joseph Nadeau, the group's artistic director from 1998-2014. The program will feature songs long associated with the chorus, such as Fred Small's "Everything Possible," as well as new works, including a new commission by Mark Hayes based on the life and work of Maya Angelou. After the season ends, the chorus will tour an abridged version of I Rise to towns in central and western Kansas, and the GALA Choruses Festival in Denver, Colorado. The chorus will welcome new members when rehearsals begin on September 8, 2015. Cates expects the group to perform with 120-130 men this season. All season performances take place at the Folly Theater, 300 West 12th Street, Kansas City, Missouri. Season tickets from $72.00 - $114.00 are available now by phone at (816) 931-3338 and online at http://hmckc.org.