“I grew up singing in the choir — I joined the children’s choir at about four years old,” says Ronté Pierce. “I had my first solo at six, a song called ‘God’s Not Dead.’ I didn’t want to do it — my mom had to bribe me with $5 to sing it.”
More than three decades later, Pierce doesn’t have to be bribed to sing. For the 41-year-old educator, music has been a constant since his childhood in Durham, North Carolina — though there was a short hiatus. Pierce moved to D.C. in 2014, but it wasn’t until 2022 that he joined the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington. He quickly rose to assistant conductor and now leads the small ensemble Seasons of Love, which sings “in the gospel style.”
This Saturday afternoon at The Howard Theatre, the 35-member ensemble will present “Heart & Soul,” a “joyful celebration of Black excellence” marking Black History Month with gospel, R&B, and soul. The program also includes a section of ’90s anthems, a tribute to what Pierce calls “The Ladies of House Music” — Martha Wash, Cece Peniston, Robyn S., and Crystal Waters — which features a performance by GMCW’s 17th Street Dance troupe.
Pierce enjoys his position within the GMCW but laments that it doesn’t offer him many opportunities to sing. “I didn’t sign up for the Chorus to have a leadership position. I signed up to use my voice expressively.” Still, he taps into his experience as a choir teacher at D.C.’s Jackson-Reed High School to guide and bring out the best in the ensemble.
Still, Pierce notes he’ll be taking the lead on the song “Hallelujah, You Are Worthy to Be Praised.” “It’s during the gospel section,” he says. “It’s a praise and worship song, so I get to tap back into what I used to do when I was home in North Carolina as a praise and worship leader at my church.”
Pierce hopes the concert inspires the audience to respond.
“When it comes to music events in the Black community, we want everybody to get involved,” he says. “That’s how the singers get energy from the audience. We want you to yell out. Or if you’re grooving with the music — because music is something that should be felt, it’s what emotions sound like — we want people to feel what we’re feeling. I want people to get out of their seats and dance!”
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s “Heart & Soul” is Saturday, Feb. 21, at 5 p.m. at The Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW. The 90-minute Black History Month celebration is ASL-interpreted and includes one intermission. Tickets range from $54.84 to $72.35. Call 202-293-1548 or visit GMCW.org.
You really never know who you'll run into at Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend. It was customarily cold in the capital this year, but warm enough inside the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill for throngs of MAL goers -- those who hadn't just rolled from their rooms to the exhibition hall -- to check their clothes in the lobby and bare their most daring gear.
In tight black leather, or rubber, or spandex, you might meet the person of your dreams riding down the escalator, or reunite with your dearest friends. You might run into Wolverine at the Superhero Meetup, or bump into Harry Lighton, the writer-director of the upcoming leather biker dom-sub love story Pillion rocking his kilt, checking out the scene at Leather Cocktails.
The great gay poet and playwright Federico García Lorca made a clear point with the title of his best-known play, The House of Bernarda Alba. Spanish matriarch Bernarda Alba rules her roost with an iron will and a firm hand. In her house, she is the law that must be obeyed by all, including her five adult daughters, all living under her roof.
Her rules likely applied just as rigidly to her second husband Antonio, very recently deceased. With his death, Bernarda only tightens her grip on the household, decreeing an eight-year mourning period, during which none of her daughters shall be allowed to marry. She seals the house in mourning, and intends to trap all her family inside with her.
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