London Gay Men's Chorus

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London Gay Men’s Chorus
the London Gay Men's Chorus, Barbican Hall, London - December 2004. © Michael Cheetham
the London Gay Men's Chorus, Barbican Hall, London - December 2004. © Michael Cheetham
Background information
Origin Flag of United Kingdom London, England, United Kingdom
Genre(s) 20th century, baroque, choral, classical, folk, gospel, jazz, popular, show tunes,
Occupation(s) Men's Choir
Instrument(s) 180 voices
Years active 1991-present
Associated
acts		 Far From Kansas
Website www.lgmc.org.uk
Members
Chairman
Dr. Gregory Battle
Musical Director
Dr. Charles Beale
Deputy Musical Director
and Principal Pianist
Simon Sharp
Deputy Musical Director
Andrea Borwn
Assistant Musical Director
Paul Tame

Founded in 1991 by a group of six gay men, the London Gay Men’s Chorus is now, with around 190 singing members and over 230 members in total, Europe’s largest and best known gay choir.

Contents

[edit] Introduction

With a widely varying repertoire from classical music to folk, jazz, pop, R&B or show tunes, and often including choreography, the Chorus' aim is to challenge preconceptions - both musical and social - in society, while providing a social network for its members.

The Chorus rehearses at Cecil Sharp House, Camden Town and has offices at Hampstead Town Hall Centre, Belsize Park.

The Chorus operates an open access policy, allowing anyone to join. New members are simply voice-tested and not auditioned when they join the group.

The Chorus also provides support for the creation of new LGBT choirs around the UK.

The Chorus is a prominent member of Sing Out and Legato and a former member of GALA.

[edit] Structure

With approximately 180 voices, the London Gay Men's Chorus has five sections, Bass, Baritone, First Tenor, Second Tenor and SemiTones. SemiTones are non-singing members. Each section is divided between upper and lower voices supported by a music support team drawn from the ranks and a music team.

A group of twenty auditioned members constitute 'Far From Kansas', a small group which works as an ambassadorial and fundraising entity and performs at corporate events and civil partnership ceremonies.

The Musical Director, since 2002, has been Dr Charles Beale. In 2005, Andrea Brown joined the team as Deputy Musical Director. Other members of the team are Simon Sharp, deputy musical director and accompanist, and Paul Tame the assistant musical director. All are professionals employed on freelance contracts by the Chorus.

Cover of Make the Yuletide Gay, the Chorus' fifth CD
Cover of Make the Yuletide Gay, the Chorus' fifth CD

The Chorus also employs a General Manager but mostly draws on volunteer work from its members to support its activities.

As of 2006, the Chorus is governed by an elected steering committee composed of a chair, vice-chair, secretary, and treasurer with eight additional members who share responsibility for the various areas of activities of the Chorus including performance, production, business development, and membership.

Revenue comes from membership subscriptions, ticket and merchandise sales, donations, and performance fees.

The Chorus has had a number of commercial sponsors, both monetary donors and providers of pro bono professional services, including the former pioneering gay website Queercompany, design firm Marsh and Malone who developed a new corporate identity in 2005-6, and fundraising consultants Brakeley. The Chorus also enjoys a commercial relationship with Selfridges, and has sung carols in the store during Christmas week for the past three years.

The London Gay Men's Chorus is a charity (Reg. No. 1092827) and a private limited company registered in England (No. 4390145)

The most recent Chairs, for the past ten years or so, include:

  • David Batten
  • Steve Bustin
  • Martin Brophy
  • Dr Greg Battle (current)

[edit] Historic overview

Previous logo of the London Gay Men's Chorus
Previous logo of the London Gay Men's Chorus

After lowly beginnings in 1991 at Angel Underground station (where the station had to be closed due to the crowd that had gathered), the Chorus has performed around the UK and toured overseas in the United States, France, Italy, Canada, Ireland and Australia.

The choir has made many TV and radio appearances including Top of the Pops, So Graham Norton, Loose Ends, Ruby Wax Chritmas special, London Tonight, the Paul Ross weekend breakfast show on LBC, and Comic Relief, and has sung and performed with stars including Sir Elton John, Human League, Heather Small, Damien Hirst, Simon Callow, Alison Jiear, Jocelyn Brown, Toyah Willcox, k.d. lang, Rula Lenska, Sandi Toksvig, Dame Cleo Laine and The Pet Shop Boys.

Over the years the Chorus has raised thousands of pounds for charity (the Food Chain, the Royal Marsden Hospital, Crusaid, the RNIB, Changing Attitude, the Terrence Higgins Trust, the Orchid Cancer Appeal, Cara and others), and sung everywhere from the tube station of its beginnings to pubs and street corners, XXL, Heaven, Trafalgar Square, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Sydney Opera House and the Aussie Stadium, the Millennium Dome in the presence of HM The Queen, La Cigale in Paris, The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Gianni Agnelli Auditorium in Turin, the London Coliseum (for the centenary of the building) and the Royal Albert Hall.

The Chorus has released five CDs.

[edit] Recent history

In December 2004 the Chorus sold out the Barbican Hall with their Christmas show Make the Yuletide Gay hosted by Simon Callow. This was the fastest ever sell-out concert for the venue. In May 2005, the Chorus took part in the Various Voices festival in Paris. In July of the same year, they gave three performances of You'll Do For Now at the Cadogan Hall, London. The show, devised by a Chorus member, charted the lives of four gay men in London over the second half of the twentieth century. The inclusion of a narrative thread to a show was a new artistic challenge for the Chorus.

One version of the adaptive new logo designed by Marsh and Malone, 2006
One version of the adaptive new logo designed by Marsh and Malone, 2006

In December 2005, the Chorus returned with an improved version of their Christmas show, Make the Yuletide Gay promoted like the previous year by Raymond Gubbay Ltd and hosted by Rula Lenska who sang and danced as well as hosting the show. The Chorus performed at Symphony Hall in Birmingham, The Concert Hall in Brighton and the Barbican Hall in London. At the same time, they released their fifth recording, and first Christmas CD, Make the Yuletide Gay.

In 2006, to celebrate its fifteenth anniversary, the Chorus organised celebration concerts at the Cadogan Hall, London and in Cardiff in July as well as a party at Heaven, London). The Chorus also took part in the Europride celebrations held in London, and performed at Europride 2006, The Show was produced by Sir Ian McKellen at the Royal Albert Hall in July 2006.

In September 2006, the Chorus was invited to take part in the prestiguous international music festival, Settembre Musica in Turin, Italy. The Chorus, still collaborating with Raymond Gubbay Ltd, sold out the Barbican Hall once again with their third Christmas show there (20 December). The show was hosted by Sandi Toksvig.

Future plans include the creation of a Youth Choir and a community choir as well as the first visit of the Chorus to Scotland. Members of the Chorus spear-headed the bid for London to host the European choir festival Various Voices 2009. The festival will take place at the South Bank Centre with the help of other London LGBT choirs, and the support of Visit London, Design for Diversity and the Greater London Authority.

[edit] External Links

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