Hosted Other Voices, Richmond's Lesbian & Gay Chorus
(1994)
Hosted Stonewall Chorale (1990)
Sponsored a free concert at the Sylvan Theatre to honor
The AIDS Memorial Quilt - guests included Bread & Roses Feminist Singers
and the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington DC
Sponsored a pride concert in June 1996 - guests included
Bread & Roses
Feminist Singers and the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington DC
HostedLondon's Pink Singers (1996)
Not What You Think hosted the very first GALA Small Ensemble Festival
Not What You Think hosted Charlotte's Other Voicesensemble,
Sotto Voce (2002).
Collaborations:
The December 1st Project with DC's Different Drummers
(December 1, 2003)
"I, too, sing, America" (October 6,
2002) with Heritage Signature Chorale, Washington Men's Camerata, Washington
Women's Chorus to honor centenary
of Langston Hughes. DC-area premiere of Ysaye Maria Barnwell's, Suite
Death,
based on 4 poems of Langston Hughes. Sang with Stephen Salters.
Sang Maria
La O with Pan American Symphony Orchestra (2002)
Organized and directed
the community chorus for the DC premiere of Diane Benjamin's, "Where
I Live," which was the highlight of the Healing
Arts Festival sponsored by the GLBT Arts Consortium to benefit The Mautner
Project for Lesbians with Cancer (2000)
Facilitated the creation of the
GLBT Arts Consortium (1999)
Initiated annual remembrance of Martin Luther
King, Jr. It has become a community wide event hosted by GLBT Arts Consortium
With
the Max Robinson Center of Whitman-Walker Clinic offered "Health
Train," a music and health festival in Anacostia. Members of Lavender
Light Gospel Choir joined us in performance and in workshop. (1999)
Presented
Gian Carlo Menotti's The Unicorn, The Gorgon, and The Manticore. The dancers
for the performance were members of Quest. Ray Killian was LGCW's
Music Director. (1998)
Presented Road Not Taken with dancers Karen and
Alvin (1995).
Events:
LGCW represented the Washington, D.C. choral community at the Smithsonian
Folklife Festival with two performances and two workshops. (2000)
LGCW
sang at the U.S. Department of State (1998-2000)
LGCW sang at the U.S.
Department of Justice (2002)
Sang in Freedom Square for DC Vote! (2003)
Benefits:
Raised more than $25,000 for other community
groups through benefit concerts and pro bono appearances, including the
first fundraiser for The NAMES Project
(1985). Groups include: Among Friends, Food & Friends, Whitman-Walker
Clinic, PETS-DC, Hine Junior High School music program, The Mautner Project
for Lesbians
with Cancer, Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League, and others.
LGCW ensembles
(current standing ensembles are: Not What You Think, Nuance, and Ties Optional)
have represented the LGCW at political fundraisers to
pride celebrations in government agencies to services at Unitarian/Universalist,
Presbyterian, and Methodist churches. Ensembles have also performed at schools
(Sandy Spring Friends School), conferences of GLBT Mormons and Seventh
Day Adventists, and the Dupont Circle House Tour .
LGCW offers complimentary
concert tickets to people living with HIV/AIDS, the deaf, sexual minority
youth, lesbians with cancer, and others who cannot
easily access the arts. The tickets are distributed through 40 service
organizations.
The women of the Chorus produced This Brooding Sky, a
2-act lesbian melodrama, to benefit the LGCW's scholarship fund for the
GALA Choruses'
Festival
in Denver (1993). The basses and tenors provided desserts for our hungry
audiences.
Jazz artist Eddie Vann offered an evening of music to benefit
the LGCW.
Other Stuff:
Commissioned Mark Adamo to write "A Joyful Noise," which
premiered at the LGCW's 10th Anniversary concert (1994)
Marched for women's and glbt
rights (1987, 1993)
Sang for The AIDS Memorial Quilt (1984, 1993, 1996)
Regina Carlow (LGCW's
3rd Music Director) directed the Festival Chorus at the Cultural Festival
of the Gay Games in NYC (1994)
LGCW was named "Organization of the
Year" by the Cultural Alliance
of Greater Washington Business Volunteers for the Arts Program (1998)
LGCW has released 3 CDs:
- We Shall Not Give Up The Fight! (1994),
- Celebrating Our Lives: Songs of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (1996), and
- LGCW Live! (1999)
Not
What You Think released its own CD (2000)
We started going on retreat
in 1987 and have gone every year since.
Our first concert was February
1986. Mark Bowman was our Music Director.
LGCW has presented adaptations
of South Pacific (South Key West), Oklahoma (Dupont
Circle), West Side
Story (Northwest Side Story), Iolanthe,
and Company.
Relationships:
With DC's Different Drummers (DCDD)- one of our earliest concerts featured
DCDD and the LGCW. We sang at DCDD's 20th Anniversary concert and at various
other
times
in our mutual history. LGCW founder Diana Wilcox was a DCDD trumpet player
and like the mix of women and men so much that she had the idea to form a
mixed chorus.
With Bread & Roses Feminist Singers (formerly DC Area
Feminist Chorus) - some percentage of our singers also sang at one time or
another in BRFS.
BRFS has been a guest at several of our concerts over the years.
With DC
Lambda Squares who performed as part of "Love Notes" in
February 2001.
With Gay Men's Chorus of Washington (GMCW). GMCW first
asked us to sing with them just before the GALA Choruses Festival in Seattle
(1989).
Since
that time,
we've shared the stage with them several different times. LGCW ensembles
perform at the GMCW ensemble night, "Let Us Entertain You,".
LGCW service to GALA Choruses includes Board service by Jill Strachan,
Regina Carlow, and Jane Hoffman (1993-2002), attendance at every GALA Choruses
event
from 1989 to 2000, leadership in seminars and workshops, and mentoring of other
choruses. In addition, Amy Moore served as Membership Services Director
(1999-2002)
LGCW maintains memberships in the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington,
Chorus America, DC Advocates for the Arts, and Washington Area Music
Association. It is licensed by ASCAP and BMI.
We've been rehearsing
at St. James' Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill since 1992.
LGCW has received
funding from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Brother Help
Thyself, the CHAMPS Community Foundation, and Bridge Builders
Fund.
LGCW has also received significant support from the business
community: Capitol Hill Bikes, Doolittle's Pet Supplies, Hoopla Traders,
Lambda
Rising, and Morris
Van Hair Salon.
We are delighted to host an annual fundraiser,
Shop With Suede, featuring the incomparable vocal talents of Suede.
