We had a great time join in with the the Gay Freedom Band of Los Angeles’ 40th Anniversary Concert Sunday, October 21st! We were excited to add our voices and perform Eric Whitacre’s beautiful composition, ‘Sleep.’ If you are not familiar with the piece it is wonderful, and the director of the Gay Freedom Band, Justin Raines, was great and dedicated the performance to all the members of the band who have passed on. We were very happy to be invited and included.
The concert featured:
- Justin Raines, GFBLA Artistic Director
- Jadine Louie, Guest Conductor
- Bill Masonheimer, Guest Conductor
- and more!
West Coast Singers has a special connection with the GFBLA as we actually stemmed from the band 35 years ago on October 31, 1983. A handful of members that had been singing with the Freedom Band officially broke off to start the chorus. Now West Coast Singers is the third oldest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, mixed-voice chorus in the nation. It is hard nowadays to understand, but in the early 1980s it was a difficult time to be gay, let alone out and gay. The original intent was to provide a safe place for lesbian and gay people to come together and sing. The gay mens chorus (GMCLA) had been around for almost five years but there were no mixed choruses and truthfully, there were not many things that gays and lesbians did together back then, so the West Coast Singers were founded. We enjoyed singing in this beautiful Gothic/Cathedral-style building with amazing traditional acoustics.
