HIGHLIGHTS OF GMCW'S FIRST 25 YEARS

Compiled by Greg D. Kubiak, with contributions by Roger Bergstrom, Jeremy Brumbelow, Bill Cutter, Rick Rosendall, Duward Sumner and printed, authored materials from the GMCW archives.

June 28, 1981

After the national tour performance of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus at the Kennedy Center ten days earlier, Marsha Pearson had distributed flyers announcing a meeting to organize a gay men’s chorus.  The meeting occurred in the old Gay Community Center at 1469 Church Street in Northwest Washington with 18 men, and the GMCW was born.  Jim Richardson became the new organization’s Interim Director with the first rehearsals being held at the center, and later at the First Congregational Church in downtown Washington. 

September 23, 1981

At the invitation of DC Mayor Marion Barry, GMCW’s debut performance occurred at a reception at the District Building, to mark the opening of the National Gay Task Force’s Washington office (later the NGLTF).  Also that month, GMCW established its management umbrella, incorporating the Federal City Performing Arts Association (FCPAA), as a non-profit educational organization whose goal was “to provide first-rate music in performance by and for Washington’s gay and lesbian community and the community-at-large.” 

December 12, 1981

With nearly 90 members, the Chorus performed its first holiday concert, jointly with the DC Area Feminist Chorus and Different Drummers, at the First Congregational Church to a standing-room-only audience of close to 1,000.

March 17, 1982

GMCW’s debut concert – under direction of its first permanent music director, Nick Armstrong – was performed at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill.  Selections were also performed by GMCW’s two smaller ensembles — the Sine Nomine Singers, a 16-member chamber group and A Few Good Men, a 20-member song-and-dance troupe.

September 9, 1983

The COAST (Come Out And Sing Together) Festival not only marked the first “road trip” for the Chorus outside the Washington-Baltimore area, but also provided the experience of performing in a real concert venue – the Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center.  It was also the first national gay choral festival – bringing eleven groups together from around the country – established by the Gay and Lesbian Association (GALA) Choruses.

October 8, 1984

When GMCW was to perform at the National Theatre for its “Monday Night at the National” for a mostly straight audience, their introduction brought palpable hostility.  However, concluding their concert with the gospel-style “Walk Him Up the Stairs,” the Chorus received a standing ovation, and one of their proudest moments.

December 13, 1985

GMCW presented an evening performance of its holiday concert, donating the proceeds of $5,700 to the Whitman-Walker Clinic in its fight against AIDS.  (The GMCW Holiday Concert was inaugurated in 1984.)

June 21, 1986

The Chorus celebrated its 5th anniversary by returning to the place of its inspiration – the Concert Hall of the Kennedy Center.  DC First Lady Effi Barry read a Mayoral proclamation declaring “Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington Day” and introduced the Chorus.

July 2, 1988

GMCW sang at the funeral of Leonard Matlovich, a decorated Vietnam veteran who was discharged from the Air Force in 1975 for declaring his homosexuality.  Chorus members walked behind his coffin prior to his burial with full military honors in Congressional Cemetery where his tombstone reads:  “When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.”

October 15, 1989

The Chorus was allowed to participate in the AIDS Healing Service at the Washington National Cathedral under its own name after a significant struggle for recognition.  GMCW was asked to participate in the 1988 service, only to have the invitation “rescinded because the Episcopal hierarchy deemed us too ‘political’,” according to one member.  (While they did participate, it was not under the GMCW name.)  Chorus leadership pursued the issue in 1989 and the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church yielded.

June 19, 1993

A front page feature story in The Washington Post’s Style Section read: 

This is the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, in which the men are nicknamed Wanda or Olivia and the budget is $250,000 a year, in which the repertoire ranges from Bach to doo-wop to high-tech contemporary oratorio and at whose concerts you’re as likely to see men howling with delight at some beribboned demimondaine with a five o’clock shadow as weeping with silent but violent grief at a stoic neo-gospel elegy … The Chorus has come a long way in 12 years…  In 1981 this was the sort of seat-of-the-pants outfit in which the treasurer could, and did, confuse his own personal funds with the Chorus’ and well, spend them.  Now it’s got a 13-member board of directors and a $60,000 stock portfolio and 145 dues-paying members.

January 19, 1997

The chorus performed an 11-number set at the Smithsonian Institution’s American History Museum on the eve of the 53rd Presidential Inaugural – the first time a gay choral group was invited to participate in such a national event.

June 28, 1997

On its 16th anniversary of formation, the Chorus was joined by the Indianapolis Men’s Chorus at the Lisner Auditorium to perform the DC premiere of “NakedMan,” to which a review noted, “GMCW always produces a slick, highly professional staging.” 

May 28, 1998

GMCW launched it first overseas tour to Scandinavia, visiting Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen.  The concert in Oslo was held in the hall at the University of Oslo where Martin Luther King, Jr. received his Nobel Peace Prize.  In Stockholm, GMCW was received by Sweden’s Princess Christina and thanked for their singing to support a Swedish AIDS service organization.  And in Copenhagen, they became the first gay chorus to sing in the Tivoli Gardens concert hall. 

April 2, 2001

The Chorus performed at Carnegie Hall as part of their 20th anniversary season joint concerts with the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus and the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus. 

June 16, 2001

The 20th Anniversary Gala Concert was held at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall with special guest, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.

December 8, 2002

GMCW participated in taping the 25th Annual Kennedy Center Honors – the first nationally televised performance by the Chorus – to be telecast on December 26 on CBS.  GMCW was invited to perform in tribute to one of the honorees, Elizabeth Taylor.  The audience included the President, Vice President, Cabinet Secretaries, Congressmen and leaders in government, business and the entertainment industry.

June 4, 2005

The Pride Concert not only included a reprise “NakedMan” – with special guests, the Ft. Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus – but also presentation of the “Capital Pride Director’s Award for Outstanding Leadership and Commitment to the GLBT Community in Washington.”

June 25, 2006

Culminating its 25th anniversary season, the chorus closed with “Singing Free!” with special guest Barbara Cook at the Kennedy Center.  The single performance concert weekend included an alumni reception celebration the night before, and special chorus and guest party after the concert.