Six years after the national LGBTQ community got together in our nation’s capital, it was time for another gathering of protest. Members of the BGMC once again travelled to participate in the 1993 March on Washington. Hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ people and their allies descended on D.C. Along with many other GALA choruses we marched, proudly proclaiming our identity as members of the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus. On Saturday evening members of the chorus crammed into the audience in Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University for a performance of Roger Bourland’s Hidden Legacies.
The chorus was covered by print media from the very beginning. Television broadcasters had for years requested to film chorus performances for news programming. In order to protect the confidentiality of singers, this permission was routinely denied. In 1989 the Commonwealth added sexual orientation to the anti-discrimination statute. Members of the chorus sang at the ceremony. The attitude towards LGBTQ people in Massachusetts was starting to improve. Concerned that not allowing filming of the openly gay chorus sending mixed messages, the board decided that it would be allowed in the future. As had always been the case, the chorus would be informed in advance so that those who did not feel comfortable being filmed would be able to step out.
In July members of the BGMC travelled to California for a joint concert with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus. The show allowed us to perform at another outstanding venue, the 2,743-seat Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center. Among the pieces the chorus performed was A Life of Joy with You by Boston composer Bill Cutter. This work was commissioned in memory of chorus member Everette Brewer who died of AIDS in May 1991.
In September Chad Weirick became principal accompanist and assistant music director. After graduating from high school at the age of 15, Chad left his native Rockford, Illinois, for New York City. There he became the organist for the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. He is listed in Ripley’s Believe it or Not! as the youngest musician to ever work full time on Broadway. Chad came to Boston to earn his Masters Degree in Composition at the New England Conservatory.
Chad’s incredible talent as an accompanist is matched with his ability to arrange music. Over the years he has arranged countless pieces for the chorus. These arrangements are incredibly popular with chorus members as well as our audiences. Many of them have also been performed by GALA choruses around the country.
In November 1994 the chorus released its first CD. Visions: Words for the Future contained nine works, many by gay composers, including Conrad Susa, David Conte, Daniel Pinkham, and BGMC member Howard Rosner.
This was the first of eleven CDs that the chorus would release over the years.