The Pink Singers’ 2011 summer concert — Razzle Dazzle — draws inspiration from the cabaret nightclubs of Paris and will have the range of styles regular fans have come to love, but with a gay twist: songs from gay songwriters and composers or made famous by gay performers. There was an embarrassment of riches to choose from, such is the huge contribution of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community to our musical heritage. Amongst those whose work will be featured are Barber, Britten and Tschaikovsky, Leonard Bernstein, KD Lang and Stephen Sondheim. Continue reading “Razzle Dazzle – willkommen!”
Year: 2011
A burst of song, an album of photos
The Pinkies’ summer season has started, and the winter is now a distant memory. We had a challenging few months, but it all came together and we put on what was for many one of our best concerts ever. Of course, it helped that we were joined on stage by the always-entertaining Manchester Lesbian & Gay Chorus, and had such lovely photos taken by the guys at Boy Oh Boy photography. Enjoy the slideshow! Continue reading “A burst of song, an album of photos”
Away with LGBT stereotypes!
As we enter the last week of LGBT History Month, we’re revisiting one of the themes of an event which we took part in at the start of February called Queer Question Time. The panel discussed being gay in professional sports, the need for more sportspeople to come out publicly, and how important this is in demonstrating to the wider society that the LGBT community is not made up exclusively of “white able-bodied TV chat show presenters”.
Indeed, our community is all about diversity, as is our choir, and we’re not just about singing Glee versions of Madonna classics (as much as we love to!) Here we perform Eric Whitacre’s modern choral work With A Lily In Your Hand, set to words from a poem by Federico García Lorca.
LGBT History Month 2011: Southwark
The Pink Singers are proud to take part in LGBT History Month. On 1 February, we sang at Southwark Council’s London Bridge headquarters for the launch event of the council’s 2011 LGBT History Month programme — Queer Question Time chaired by BBC Dragon’s Den presenter Evan Davis.
Answering questions were Matthew Parris, broadcaster and Times columnist and former Tory MP; Sue Sanders, co-chair of Schools Out; John Amaechi, psychologist, New York Times best-selling author and former NBA basketball player; Angela Eagle, Labour MP.
Where were you 15 years ago?
LGBT History Month is starting on Tuesday, so now’s a great time to reflect on our past. In 1996, the Pinkies were in Tampa to perform at the GALA choruses festival, and some of them are still singing in the choir today! Janine very kindly shared a whole treasure trove of photos from 1995 to 1997 with us – thank you so very much. The Pink Singers really want to record our history before it is forgotten, so if you have material you’d like to share, either publicly or privately, please do send it our way. Find out more about the Pink Singers archive here.