Chorus Girl: The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s Thea Kano
Thea Kano ushers in a new, exciting era as the first female head of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington
KANO: They always have, absolutely. My parents were with me on a trip I took a couple years ago to Paris where I pulled together a festival chorus of many singers from all around the country. That particular week, a friend of mine who sings in GMCW and his partner were there to sing with this project, and they got engaged right there on Pont Neuf. My father and I were only steps away. They were embracing each other and tearing up. They called us over and said, “We’re engaged!” I remember my dad put his hand over his heart, and he put his other hand over the hand, and he said, “That is so beautiful.” So yeah, my parents, there’s no other word to describe it but cool. And they’ve just always been so current and so up on — they’re just all about equality, and they just get it.
MW: Have they seen you with the chorus?
KANO: Oh, absolutely. They’ve seen me with the chorus several times, and will again in December. One set of parents, my father and my step-mother, will be at one weekend, and my mother and my step-father will be there the other weekend. I’m very fortunate to have four amazing, very supportive parents, and I couldn’t be here in this career without them cheering me on from the get-go.
Photo by Julian Vankim
MW: You’ve talked about being inspired by and passionate about the chorus and its mission. Have you had any problems as its new female leader?
KANO: So far — four months in — no, absolutely not. The support is overwhelming. It is so wonderful. And I knew it would be great, but it’s turned out to be really great. People go out of their way to offer help, or to ask how I’m doing,how I feel things are going. People often come forward to give their perspective and advice. It’s really great that they don’t wait for me to ask for it, and I really appreciate it. We have an artistic advisory committee, a meeting we hold once a month where anybody in the membership is invited to come attend an hour and a half meeting, where we talk about programming. And I very much count on the guys to come in and give me their suggestions, give me perspective, and help keep me current.
Because, at the end of the day, as hard as I try I am not a gay man. So it’s just good to hear their voice. And I always encourage people to use that expression, to “use your voice” — not just to sing on stage but to share your experience — because our goal is to present a product to our audience that is current and relevant to where we are in the equality movement and the social justice movement, and where gay men are in society today, not just in Washington but in rural areas. And to give us perspective of where we were 34 years ago. Next year is our 35th anniversary. So that’s a long way of saying, yes, I get a lot of help from the family of singers. And I feel very much embraced and accepted, and I’m really humbled by it.
MW: I guess then you don’t agree with comments made earlier this month by the Hollywood actress Rose McGowan, who said gay men are as misogynistic as straight men, if not worse.
KANO: I don’t feel that. I have not experienced that. Obviously everyone’s experience is different. All it takes is one experience and you’re going to remember that. It’s true that [misogyny in the gay community] is out there. I’m not naïve to that. But in a very large, urban, very progressive community, that helps too. Between here and New York, I’ve got that covered.
MW: So you’ve found GMCW to be a welcoming community?
KANO: Absolutely, I really have. From day one, eleven years ago when I joined GMCW on their staff, I’ve felt accepted and embraced. When I was going through this interview process over the last six months, the national search to find a replacement for Jeff [Buhrman], I put my name in the hat, and that’s when I really stopped to think, “Is this community going to be accepting of a non-gay man on the podium?” And obviously we’ll see how it works out. But I’ve just heard from so many people that they, very humbly, recognize that I’m an ally. And I get so much reward out of using music as a vehicle to make a difference and to speak up for equality. And not just LGBT equality but just social justice in general.
MW: What are your intentions over the next five or 10 years with the chorus?
KANO: We’re really growing right now, and we’re really planning that growth, and how far we can go and what our goals are. We’re just starting our five-year plan right about now. It’s going to involve some aggressive fundraising in the next year or so. And our goals are threefold: Starting the LGBT youth chorus GenOUT, the first LGBTQA youth chorus in the Washington area; Expanding our outreach to go way beyond the beltway, out to Kentucky and down to Tennessee and the Carolinas, Mississippi and Alabama — to take our music and our message to people who really want and need to hear it; And to have the opportunity to perform at the Kennedy Center as often as possible, because that is really a national stage.
Looking to the broad future, I would like us to be recognized as the nation’s gay men’s chorus. To have a national voice. We are fortunate to be in the capital, so we are kind of seated to have that opportunity and to sing at many events that get national exposure, such as when we sang on the steps of the Supreme Court when DOMA was voted unconstitutional last year.
MW: I understand you’ve been married before. Do you have kids?
KANO: Yeah, I was married in a previous life. But no, I do not have kids. Well, I have 200 of them. [Laughs.] They’ll be in tuxedos on stage next week, you’ll see them all!
MW: And you’ll be the proud mom leading them.
KANO: Exactly. And I am so proud. I really am. And it’s funny that you said that because I think when I was the associate director, I think they saw me as kind of their sister, a little bit. Now, I’m definitely mom. And sometimes in rehearsal I’ll say, “Why do you make me work so hard? Mom is tired!” I’m just being cute. It’s a very fun relationship.
The Gay Men’s Chorus performs Saturday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 13, at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 14, at 3 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. Tickets are $25 to $59. Call 877-435-9849 or visit gmcw.org.
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