“We are quite proud of the fact that we were the first non all-gay chorus chosen to perform I Am Harvey Milk,” says Scipio Garling of the Alexandria Harmonizers, who performed Andrew Lippa’s oratorio about the slain gay rights pioneer earlier this year. “That is revolutionary in itself: The idea that art made by, for and about the gay community doesn’t have to simply remain there. It can be enjoyed and performed by everyone, for everyone.”
Not everyone was able to see their performance with the National Philharmonic at Strathmore, however, so the Harmonizers will offer excerpts of the work as part of a fall “Revolution” concert, packaged with songs by The Beatles.
“The Beatles helped provide a musical context for a time of social transition,” says Garling. The concert will feature early Beatles tunes focused on tight harmonies as well as later, more experimental songs, including “St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Hey Jude.” Garling sees a similarity between the fab four’s evolving pop trajectory and that of the Harmonizers, founded in 1948. “Despite our very strong grounding in four-part a cappella and barbershop, the chorus, particularly in recent years, has also been broadening what it does and including different styles.”
Over the summer, the Harmonizers performed excerpts from Harvey Milk as part of a master class during the Barbershop Harmony Society’s annual convention in Nashville — another small but sure way the group is helping nudge this tradition-minded movement on gay issues. The Harmonizers also increasingly perform at gay events, such as during a wedding ceremony for Marriott International during the 2014 Capital Pride Parade.
“All of this is to make us more part of our surrounding communities,” Garling says, “and to help us be a regular and reliable source to them for all sorts of entertainment — familiar as well as innovative music, popular but still cutting edge like contemporary a cappella. We want to be able to do all of those things for our audiences.”
Revolution: A Musical Celebration of the Art of Change is Saturday, Oct. 15, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall at Northern Virginia Community College, 3001 North Beauregard St., Alexandria. Tickets are $32 to $75. Call 703-548-0885 or visit alexsym.org.
David Archuleta has been through a lot in the past several years.
He came out as gay and left the Mormon church, which had been a huge part of his life. As an artist, he’s now looking to mine his past experiences – and even his trauma – to make something beautiful out of an experience that must have been incredibly difficult. That's exactly what he's managed to do with “Hell Together,” his latest single.
The former American Idol star dropped “Hell Together” last week after teasing new music was coming. The track is a gospel-tinged affair, a nod to his past and the story he tells in the song.
The D.C. area is on track to be graced by two visits from the Indigo Girls this year, including a stint with the Fairfax Symphony at Capital One Hall and a remarkable double-bill pairing with fellow lesbian vanguard Melissa Etheridge at Wolf Trap. Wolf Trap is also the place to go for a second edition of the venue's Out & About Festival, this year offering a new cohort of LGBTQ musical acts.
Queer artists are really, truly just about everywhere, coming to nearly every music venue in the region this season. A quick scan of the listings bears this out: There's Donna Missal at The Atlantis, BOOMscat at Blues Alley, CMAT at DC9, XOMG Pop! at the Fillmore, Billy Gilman at Jammin Java, Mary Gauthier at Rams Head on Stage, and Mx Mundy at Songbyrd. And that's just a quick and easy seven, with several times that number waiting in the wings for your discovery.
Cher is among a group of musicians named as inductees to he Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The Grammy Award-winning artist was one of four artists -- along with Foreigner, Peter Frampton, and Kool & the Gang -- who were on the ballot for the first time.
Cher -- the only artist to have a No. 1 song in each of the past six decades -- and fellow inductee Mary J. Blige, a nine-time Grammy Award winner with eight multi-platinum albums -- will boost the Hall of Fame's number of females, which previously stood at 65, constituting about 8% of the total number of inductees.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!