For one thing, the group's 80 singers carry no scores in their
hands -- they memorize their music -- and they feel free to move
about when they sing. For another, they are the largest mixed gay
chorus in the United States, measured by budget and membership.
Among the 100-plus member organizations of Gay and Lesbian
Association of Choruses (GALA), they were one of the first
male-female groups. In the years since it was founded -- giving
its debut concert at Macalester College in 1989, 38 singers
performing to an audience of about 200 --One Voice has grown
steadily. Its budget has swelled from $17,000 to over $250,000,
and in its Twin Cities series it now routinely performs for 1,000
people. In its outreach programs in schools and churches
throughout the five-state area it performs for thousands more.
By all accounts, the group has matured musically under its current
director, Jane Ramseyer Miller, placing it among the top community
choruses in the area. And perhaps it's a sign of social progress
that none of the singers today asks to be listed by first name
only in concert programs, as was the case in the group's early
years.
One Voice takes its mission seriously -- "building community
and creating social change by raising our voices in song" --
but it doesn't proselytize overtly. The themes it puts forth --
notions of tolerance and freedom from oppression -- are clear
enough in a repertoire that includes contemporary classical works,
show tunes, political satire and Third World numbers.
The very existence of the chorus has engendered hostility at times
in cities it has visited. Miller said a concert planned in 2004 at
a school in Faribault, Minn., was canceled at the last minute by
the school's administration for not fitting "our
curriculum." The same tour included a performance in Bemidji,
where some parents kept their children home from school that day
and asked for the resignation of the music teacher who invited
them. "But the administration was supportive, so we went
ahead and sang," said Miller. At about the same time, in
advance of a scheduled performance in Grand Rapids, Minn., a
debate arose among readers of the local newspaper. After a writer
claimed the chorus was hiding its identity in its advance
promotion, a flock of letters appeared praising One Voice, both
for its musicianship and its mission.
Driving hours to hear chorus
Most of the group's tour dates have been happy experiences.
Spencer Putney, a baritone who joined the chorus in 1993, recalled
a recent performance in Mankato. "We discovered at a
reception afterward that there were people who had driven three
and four hours to come and hear us," Putney said. "They
live in rural areas and feel isolated, and they wanted to connect
with people who share some of their experiences."
Miller recalled the group's three-month collaboration last year
with Community of Peace Academy in St. Paul, which involved
rehearsals and a performance with the school's chorus, 80 percent
of whom are Hmong immigrants. "In the Hmong language there
are no words for gay and lesbian people," said Miller.
"At the first rehearsal, some of them didn't want to sit by
gay people -- pretty normal homophobia for high-school kids. By
the time we did the concert together, we were all the best
buddies. I visited their school a week ago and went into the
cafeteria to have lunch, and I was mobbed by these kids, saying,
'Hey, when are we going to do that again?' " (A bell-ringer
ensemble from the school will be guest performers at the One Voice
concerts this weekend.)
Karen Rusthoven, principal at the school, praised the
collaboration and said a follow-up is planned for this spring.
Students and chorus members "really did grow to respect one
another through singing," she said. "It was a wonderful
concert and a wonderful experience for everybody."
One Voice was founded in 1988 by Paul Petrella, who was then a
member of the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus, which was formed in
1981. (Calliope, a local women's chorus, started even earlier, in
1976.) Concerned that gay men and women had formed separate
communities, he wanted to bring them together on a regular basis.
"It's been effective, I think. Our community has come a long
way," Petrella said.
Miller, who had studied choral conducting with Tom Lancaster and
Kathy Saltzman Romey at the University of Minnesota, became
artistic director in 1995, replacing Paul Siskind.
"When I started, the chorus could barely sing through a
four-part hymn," Miller said. "We have people who read
no music and had never sung before in a choir, and we have others,
the section leaders, with degrees in music. That makes it a
challenge." She figures that 10 to 15 percent of the chorus
members are straight, and that about 60 percent of the group's
local audience is straight. And 10 to 15 percent of chorus members
are transgender. One Voice held a vocal workshop for transgender
singers last year, one of the first ever, partly because Miller
wanted to learn more about it. "I had a person who joined the
choir as an alto, started taking testosterone and within six
months was a tenor and the following year a bass."
High intensity
Interviews with the singers of One Voice, whose ages range from 20
to 68, suggest an intensity of involvement and a bonding that
isn't common in a community chorus (a category that means the
singers aren't paid). They often speak of the chorus as a second
family, or, in some cases, as Miller said, the only family that
will accept them.
"I would be a much lonelier person if it weren't for this
chorus," said Robin Keck, an alto who joined the chorus in
the early '90s. "I met my partner through the chorus, and we
now have a 4-year-old daughter." (The daughter was her
partner's child.)
Baritone Michael Mlinar's partner brings Mlinar's two children to
the concerts. Mlinar was in a straight marriage for 14 years.
Some, on the other hand, never reconcile with their families.
Former board chair Cheryl Winch, a mezzo, said her parents, whom
she describes as conservative Baptists, have never been to a One
Voice concert.
"People think homophobia is a thing of the past, especially
in a metro culture like ours. They have no idea that there are
youth and adults today who can't take their partners home, can't
go home for Thanksgiving," Miller said. "On the other
hand, I've heard of our singers bringing family members to a
concert of ours, and they see all these normal-looking people up
there and all of a sudden realize their child is in a community
that is healthy and that cares for them."
This weekend's program, titled "The Road Less Travelled,"
will include a piece One Voice commissioned in 2000 from
Minneapolis composer Jeanne Brindley-Barnett and a song titled
"Marie" based on the true story of a teenage lesbian who
takes her girlfriend to her high-school prom.
As one of the group's basses, Lane Skalberg, said, "We're not
going to change the world, but we're going to try to change what
little part of it we can."
The Road Less Travelled
Who: One Voice Mixed Chorus conducted by Jane Ramseyer Miller.
When: 7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; 3 p.m. Sun.
Where: Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, 1531 Hewitt Av., St.
Paul.
Tickets: $13-$25. 651-298-1954 or www.ovmc.org.
Michael Anthony • 612-673-4445
