Friday, April 1, 2016

Gay Men's Chorus 35th Anniversary Concert with Carmina Burana, Gallim Dance, Retrospective


From our friends at the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, DC...

Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, DC Celebrates Groundbreaking 35-Year History with Kennedy Center Performance

GMCW traces arc of its history in a retrospective concert, featuring a performance of Carmina Burana with new choreography by Gallim Dance, New York City Master Chorale

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW) commemorates its milestone 35th anniversary with Carmina 35 at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall on Sunday, May 8, 2016 at 8 PM, under the direction of Artistic Director Thea Kano. For more information, visit www.GMCW.org.
GMCW partners with New York’s Gallim Dance and 40 members of the New York City Master Chorale to perform a perennial favorite of classical music, Carl Orff’s canonical Carmina Burana. Soloists lending their talent to this performance are soprano Paige Cutrona, tenor Robert Baker, and baritone Young Kwang Yoo. The performance will also feature new choreography by the industrious Andrea Miller, Artistic Director for Gallim Dance.



A leading contemporary dance company based in New York, this collaboration complements the ethos of Gallim Dance, which celebrates the human spirit through works deeply rooted in the human experience of love, struggle and spirituality. Miller created a loose narrative for nine dancers, harnessing the passion and physicality that the music inspires to explore different relationships - same sex and heterosexual, romantic, platonic, and familial. She channels a spectrum of emotions - passion, sexuality, tension, struggle, joy - through characteristically big, bold movement.

This production of Carmina Burana will also be performed at Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.

Orff’s sweeping masterwork is paired with touchstones from GMCW’s history. The second half of the concert will be bookended with significant works commissioned by GMCW - “Build A House” from Alexander’s House and “This House Shall Stand” from Songs of My Family. The Chorus will also perform favorite selections from past concerts, as well as “This Train,” the first song rehearsed at GMCW’s inaugural rehearsal in 1981, GMCW’s anthem “Make Them Hear You” from Broadway’s Ragtime, and “We Kiss in Shadow,” performed by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus at the Kennedy Center in 1980, which served as the inspiration to start a DC-based gay men’s chorus.

Historical Significance:
A torchbearer and consistent, unified voice for equality, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC has been a steady presence in its community and at historic events that have impacted LGBT people. In 2013, GMCW sang on the steps of the Supreme Court when the Defense of Marriage Act was struck down, and returned in 2015 to sing jubilantly when the court ruled in favor of marriage equality. That same year, GMCW was the first LGBT chorus invited to perform in Cuba on a 10-day cultural and educational tour, helping to spread awareness about equality. The chorus sang at the Lincoln Memorial in 2008 for the first inauguration of President Barack Obama, performing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” with Josh Groban and Heather Headley. Additionally, GMCW vocal ensemble Potomac Fever performed at the White House in 2012 for the first-ever LGBT reception honoring rising LGBT leaders.

The chorus has grown from 90 members in its first season to more than 200 singing members today, educating and entertaining more than 10,000 patrons annually.

GMCW Presents 
Carmina 35
Sunday, May 8, 2016
8 PM

Tickets $25-$71

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Concert Hall
2700 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20566

For additional information or to purchase tickets, visit www.GMCW.org.

Tickets available at the Kennedy Center box office. Charge by phone at (202) 467-4600 and kennedy-center.org

About the GMCW:
Under the direction of Artistic Director Thea Kano, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC is in its 35th season with a mission that is dynamic and socially-relevant. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington delights audiences and champions gay equality with robust artistry, fun and surprise. GMCW has more than 220 singing members, two select vocal ensembles, 100 support volunteers, 400 subscribers, 500 donors and an annual audience of more than 10,000 people.

GMCW is honored to include in its history iconic venues such as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the White House, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall in Boston, the Lincoln Memorial, presidential inauguration celebrations, and more. GMCW features two select outreach vocal ensembles: Potomac Fever, a 14-voice close harmony group, and Rock Creek Singers, a 35-voice chamber ensemble.

Since 2001, GMCW has maintained a robust youth outreach program, GenOUT, that offers free tickets to high school students, parents and teachers, in addition to offering in-school outreach and empowerment programs. In 2015, GMCW launched the GenOUT Chorus, the first LGBTQ youth chorus in the DC area.

The Chorus demonstrates its commitment to community outreach projects by participating in the Whitman-Walker AIDS Walk, an annual toy drive to benefit Community Family Life Services, Christmas Eve caroling at the National Institutes of Health and volunteering at Food & Friends. GMCW is a proud member of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA Choruses) and Chorus America.

About Gallim Dance:
Gallim Dance, one of New York’s leading contemporary dance companies, creates and performs the work of Artistic Director Andrea Miller. With each new work, Gallim dives deeper into singular explorations of universal struggles such as love, spirituality, and the tensions between the individual and collective experience. Miller’s uncompromising creative language—which exerts every drop of sweat, every breath, and full abandonment from a virtuosic and fearless company of dancers—brings these works to life.

Gallim performs for 20,000 audience members annually at premier venues including The Joyce Theater, Lincoln Center, BAM, The Kennedy Center, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, New York City Center, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Peak Performances at Montclair State University, Spoleto Festival, White Bird, and ODC, as well as performances at international venues and festivals.