The Boston Gay Men’s Chorus (BGMC) embarked on an historic tour of the Middle East in June 2015, travelling with more than 100 members. In doing so, BGMC became the first gay chorus to perform across the region, with performances in Istanbul in Turkey, and in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ein Gedi in Israel. While in Turkey, BGMC was scheduled to participate in the country’s Gay Pride celebration, which has grown since 2003 to become one of the largest displays of LGBT culture in the Muslim world.
BGMC met with local Jewish, Muslim, and Palestinian groups and artists throughout its two-week tour, including several members of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus. Proceeds from all performances by BGMC during the tour were be donated to local LGBT groups.
Music Makes a Difference
In a bit of serendipity, on June 18, the day BGMC departed Boston for Turkey, an ensemble of Jerusalem Youth Chorus members performed at the Massachusetts State House. Founded in 2011, the Jerusalem Youth Chorus features Israeli and Palestinian youth who speak Arabic, Hebrew, and English, and is the only mixed Israeli-Palestinian choral group in Jerusalem.
BGMC commissioned a song about peace for the tour by Joshua Shank. Lyrics for the song were crowdsourced from Chorus members who provided memories to Shank of when they felt most at peace.
“We were particularly excited to perform before audiences that have never before heard music by a gay choral group, and to perform “Peace.” We live in an extremely complicated world, and there are many ways that cultural groups can seek to effect change,” said BGMC Musical Director Reuben Reynolds III.
“We performed at one of the first legally-recognized same-sex weddings in the United States. We traveled to Poland in 2005 where our performance as an out, gay chorus drew headlines around the world. Throughout our history, the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus has never been afraid to engage in difficult conversations, and the way do it is through the transformative power of music.”
BGMC’s tour of the Middle East comes 10 years after the chorus completed a European Tour in Berlin, Germany; Wroclaw, Poland; and Prague, Czech Republic. The 2005 tour was an historic intersection of the Chorus’s artistic and public service mission, drawing massive audiences and bitter anti-gay protests, which garnered international media attention (a common headline was “Music Triumphs Injustice”) and sparked important global conversations about LGBT rights.
