We started rehearsals again in January 2020, still high off the holidays. 48% of the new members represented diverse backgrounds. Singers were preparing for the annual cabaret performance at the end of February. 201 singers were hard at work on our March concert, “Born This Way”, which would feature the world premier of a piece we co-commissioned, A Peacock Among the Pigeons. Based on a children’s book, there were exciting plans for the performance. Among those plans was a joint concert at the middle school in Andover, Massachusetts, with the student choir there.
In January we started hearing rumors of a strange respiratory disease in Wuhan, China. On the 20th, the first confirmed case in the United States was reported in the state of Washington. As February rolled on the, the reports got worse and worse. The weekend of 21–23 February the sold-out cabaret went on as scheduled. On Wednesday and Thursday, 26–27 February, the biotech company Biogen held a leadership conference in Boston with employees from around the world. On Thursday evening, two weeks before our scheduled main concerts, the chorus held the joint performance at Andover Middle School. The following week news broke that Biogen employees at the conference were testing positive for COVID-19. The chorus received news that some of those employees had been at the Andover performance.
On Tuesday, the governor issued a state of emergency declaring that all nonessential public gatherings should be cancelled. New England Conservatory, our performance home of Jordan Hall, announced that they would close. Later that day chorus leaders made the difficult decision to cancel our dress rehearsals, the entire concert, and the cast party that was to follow.
The chorus had been through many crises in its history. The HIV/AIDS crisis of the 80s and 90s, protestors in Poland trying to block entrance to our venue, the Turkish government taking away our performance venue. Although the New England weather had taken out the occasional holiday performance, never before in our thirty-eight year history had we been forced to cancel an entire performance series. But even then the email reflected optimism that we would be together again in just a couple of weeks, preparing our I Want My Gay TV concert for Pride. Two days later we received another email from Craig:
Tonight we were supposed to be coming together in Jordan Hall to put the finishing touches on “Born This Way.” It’s one of my favorite times with you. I love watching the faces of our new members who have never been in the historic and beautiful hall. I relish those members who have been around a while settling into their performance home and routine. I marvel at Reuben’s ability to tune you and the orchestra to the hall. Bill puts in his 10,000 steps moving about the hall providing coaching to get everything just so. Chad commands his piano on one side of the stage while LeWana finds her spot on the other side. Anne bathes you in light beautifully. (So many others do so much more that I apologize in advance if I’m omitting anybody!) It’s a time when the months of rehearsals and the hours of time you have spent on your own learning music comes to fruition. It saddens me that we won’t have tonight together and we won’t have the shows this weekend.
On the day that we hoped to start rehearsals again, we instead had a Town Hall meeting on Zoom. The June concert was officially cancelled. Because that concert was our program for GALA, we would not be going to Minneapolis that summer (it too was eventually rescheduled and ultimately postponed to 2024).
The world was in chaos. People were dying around us. Many of our members are healthcare workers and they were quickly working in COVID wards. Other members would develop COVID. We were isolated from each other. And no end was in sight.
Craig and the board got down to some very hard work. Our performances involve a tremendous amount of work. Not only the singers, but composers, arrangers, musicians, choreography, lighting, videographers, and more who are contracted to work for us. A decision was made early on that despite the cancellations, we would pay every contractor for their work. In addition, every person who had purchased a ticket was offered a full refund. This was projected to leave us with a $350,000 deficit for the fiscal year, but it was the right thing to do. Many of those who provide this support for us are independent contractors and their livelihood was crashing down. Karma came back to reward us. Large numbers of individuals who had purchased tickets turned down the refund. Our donors generously supported us. With money from the federal and state government to help businesses weather the crisis, we managed to end the year in the black.
In April we released our first virtual video, our theme song Everything Possible. Members recorded themselves singing and our incredibly talented Director of Video, Michael Willer, pulled together an incredible final product which was released on our YouTube channel. Over the course of the next two years we released more than 100 videos, including home-recorded songs, member interviews, new edits from our concert videos, news updates from the office, and Reuben’s selections of our previously recorded repertoire for special occasions. WCVB-Channel 5 aired three unique shows, one each for the 2020 and 2021 holidays and one for Pride 2021. Television views during the pandemic were approx. 700,000.
Sarah Shoffner was a well-beloved member of our staff for almost six years. Working with Craig she was a driving force in our engagement efforts, especially with our Encore annual fundraiser. She was always smiling and greeting audiences at our performance and thanking them for coming. In the fall of 2021 she left for new opportunities and she will be missed.
As the fall progressed, we were looking forward to the coming year. The chorus announced an historic partnership with Disney Concerts. We will be the first LGBTQ+ chorus to create and perform an entire concert of Disney music. Disney PRIDE in Concert will take place in June 2022 at Symphony Hall. Nearly the entire catalog of Disney’s films and music was opened to us. For two years Chad, Bill and Reuben and the creative team have been working to produce this incredible show. As the holidays approached there was a general sense of optimism.
That all changed on December 12. That afternoon the chorus received another email, with the subject heading “Devastating News.” Reuben and Bill were at their home in Provincetown when Bill suddenly became ill. He passed away shortly after. Devastating doesn’t begin to describe it.
The team of Reuben and Bill was arguably the best partnership in all of GALA choruses. Their talents perfectly complemented each other. They built the BGMC into the musical powerhouse that it is today, increasing the musicality of the group, the size of the membership, and introducing the dance troupe that is now a much-loved part of every concert. Bill also had one of the biggest hearts in the chorus. He loved and supported everyone. The parties he and Reuben threw were legendary. He was constantly on social media cheering his friends on and letting them know that they were loved. In our forty-year history, few people have had the impact that Bill had, both personally as well as professionally, on each of us who were privileged to be in the chorus with him. His legacy lives on through all of us.
Important safety protocols were initiated for the Disney Pride concert. Every chorus member and auditionee was required to provide proof of vaccination and booster. Everyone was required to be masked at all times. And medical-grade air filters used in hospitals were purchased by the chorus for our rehearsal space. In January 2022 we held auditions for the first time in two years. A record 217 inquiries were received over the previous two years, and an extraordinary number of members reactivated. We now have 330 active members, with 292 singers participating in the June concert. On February 2, 2022, we joined in song for the first rehearsal held since March 2, 2020—almost two years to the day since the last time we were together, 700 days. There were so many of us that we rehearsed in the sanctuary rather than our usual rehearsal space. We have a tradition at the first rehearsal after auditions. We invite all the new members to stand in front of the chorus for a formal welcome. Reuben talks a little of our history and we finish with the veteran members singing our theme song, Everything Possible by Rev. Fred Small, to the new members. That night’s rendition was particularly poignant for all of us.