Rehearsal Information - Men's Festival Chorus

A Message to Men's Festival Chorus Participants from Conductor Gary Miller

Greetings from New York City, where the temperature hovers around 100 degrees for the fourth day in a row. Miami in July seems much more attractive!

I am honored to be serving as your conductor for the Men's Festival Chorus during this, the 25th Anniversary Season of GALA. I know that as I greet you for the first time in Miami, I will recognize a lot of faces (and forget a lot of names) from our years together in this movement. For those of you who don't know me, I had the pleasure of serving as Music Director of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus for 18 years (20, if you count the two years I recently filled in during their latest director search). I am proud to say that I was around for the birthing of GALA and am thrilled to see its current vibrancy. I served as Music Director for the first GALA festival in New York City in 1983, and conducted the Men's Festival Chorus at GALA's Denver festival in 1992. Yes, I am old!

GALA has come up with an interesting concept for the program which will include our concert set on Wednesday evening of the festival. It is actually the official 25th Anniversary Celebration, and will include festival choruses as well as special guests. The evening has been arranged in a sort of historical perspective, and our set is in the middle of the evening. As many men's choruses around the country were formed during the height of the AIDS crisis, I was asked to directly address this issue during our 15 minute set. Therefore, the centerpiece of the program is a piece I commissioned in 1988 from legendary American composer Ned Rorem.

Love Alone is a dramatic setting of a heart-wrenching poem by Paul Monette. I urge you to spend some time reading the poem and digesting it before you get to Miami. It is printed in its entirety on the inside cover of the music. The poem tells of the loss the author is feeling after the death of his lover from AIDS. Simple things, like an empty box of Glad Bags, take on a different significance. This is a tough piece, both musically and emotionally. It defines the anguish that so many of us have dealt with during this turbulent time.

I have framed this piece with moods that are entirely different. We open with "Ain't No Turnin' Back" which, for me is a metaphor for where we are in this movement. It's an affirmation of everything we stand for: "We'll claim that golden prize of prizes, rejoicing in our victory." It's written in the style of an African American freedom song or spiritual, and we'll try to develop a special open-throated bright sound for this piece that will contrast with the covered dark tones of the piece that follows. We will also use djembes in this piece and I will be asking any of you with drumming experience in your choruses to volunteer (audition) to play that part. We'll sort that out at the first rehearsal. Please note that because of time constraints we will not be using the second verse. Go right to the second ending on page 4 and continue forward. Also, ideally I would like to have this piece memorized. There are important clapping rhythms incorporated within the music and I'd love to have folders out of our hands for it. (We'll see if this is possible!)

The final piece is by GALA's good friend, Robert Seeley, with words by his partner Robert Espindola. It comes from a larger piece called Metamorphosis which the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus presented at the last GALA festival under the direction of Dr. Stan Hill. I had the pleasure of conducting this work in New York's Lincoln Center in a performance with the Jennifer Mueller Dance Company. I love the text of this piece. Read it and see if, like me, you can't keep from smiling. It is a joyous reminder of why we do this and the profound effect this movement can have on individual lives.

I have received a roster of those of you who have signed up for the Men's Festival Chorus. There are approximately 120 of you, and only 11 of you are First Tenors. This obviously concerns me! If any of you who are currently singing Second Tenor would like to switch to First Tenor, I'd greatly appreciate the effort. (I used to say that a Second Tenor is simply a lazy First Tenor! I don't really believe that, but this would be a good time to prove me wrong!) And of course if you have a First Tenor in your hometown chorus who is not signed up for the Festival Chorus, a little recruiting would be appreciated as well.

Now I know I've left the most important issue for last: our fashion statement. I would like everyone to wear dark slacks with a solid color lacoste-style shirt in any color of the rainbow. (Get it?!) Lacoste-style means a knit shirt with a collar and short sleeves. If you don't have one and can't find one to borrow, a t-shirt in a bright color will do. I look forward to greeting you at our first rehearsal on Sunday, July 13, at 9:15 a.m. in the Hilton Hotel. Bring a relaxed attitude, a friendly smile, and a pencil!

Rehearsal Files - Men's Festival Chorus

I Can Fly

MP3 FILES:

I Can Fly - Bass
I Can Fly - Baritone
I Can Fly - Tenor 1
I Can Fly - Tenor 2

Score: Click to Download

Ain't No Turnin' Back

MP3 FILES:

Ain't No Turnin' Back - Bass
Ain't No Turnin' Back - Baritone
Ain't No Turnin' Back - Tenor 1
Ain't No Turnin' Back - Tenor 2

Score: Click to Download

Love Alone

MP3 FILES:

Love Alone - Bass
Love Alone - Baritone
Love Alone - Tenor 1
Love Alone - Tenor 2

Score: Click to Download