The 2018–2019 season was another rousing success. Our holiday show featured an eight-piece orchestra. Our popular cabaret was once again sold out. Our March concert, “Raise You Up”, was particularly moving. With our special guest artist, the multi-talented Todrick Hall, the most moving part of the concert was the choral theatre piece Seven Last Words of the Unarmed. The lyrics for the seven movements were the final words of seven black men who were killed: Kenneth Chamberlain, Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Michael Brown, Oscar Grant, John Crawford, and Eric Garner. We finished the season with our Pride concert “God Save the Queens”, featuring the music of British artists.
At the start of 2019 we still had two original members who were actively singing: Jim Anderson and John Strumwasser. But that spring John decided it was time for him to retire from active singing. He and his husband, former president Steve Connor, had purchased a home in Provincetown and were retiring there. John’s dedication to the chorus over the years is truly unsurpassed. From the very beginning he has been dedicated to the success of the organization, and served in many capacities besides a singer. He was on the board several terms, served as president multiple times, and as interim director during the search for Steve Smith’s replacement. At his last rehearsal everyone was a bit choked up, especially Reuben as he brought John up to say farewell. The chorus owes much of what it is today to this man who played such a significant role in our creation and development. Jim Anderson summed up everyone’s feelings when he said “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for the chorus but more importantly, I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me. You’ve shown me what being a true gentleman is and what being just an amazing person is.”
The 2010s saw a great deal of change in the chorus. The diversity of members of the chorus increased greatly during this decade, and continues to increase. And this means diversity on many levels. We have a number of members for whom English was not their first language. Many were born in other countries. There are African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and more. There are Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, and more. There are even some heterosexuals. Our ages span more than half a century, from early 20s to late 70s. And crossing all those boundaries are the increasing number of transgender individuals. Unlike other organizations in our community, accepting transgender and nonbinary individuals has never been a problem or question for us. Being able to sing when you show up to audition is the primary barrier to entry, nothing else. The artistic partnership of Reuben and Bill continued to raise the bar with performances. Craig introduced many new features, including a YouTube channel with videos of our performances that were seen around the world. Video views in the first 10 years: nearly 11 million. The organization had stabilized financially, delivering balanced and surplus results each year. We undertook two GALA performances and two overseas tours. The organization was looking to the future and projecting to have major events every other year. We would either take a major tour or perform at GALA or another similar event domestically. The fall of 2019 saw us celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Chad joining us. And as we rang out the decade with 219 singers performing six concerts of “A Super Gay Christmas”, we celebrated the start of LeWana’s thirtieth year as our ASL interpreter with the chorus singing Silent Night in German, English, and American Sign Language. We were excitedly looking to the future and the GALA festival in Minneapolis the following summer. Nothing could ever have prepared us for what was coming next.