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The Pink Singers trip to Warsaw to sing with our friends Voces Gaudii was our first trip abroad in over two and half years. Tenor Will gives us a run-down of all the exciting things that happened over our four-day trip.

Two years ago, I was attending a Pink Singers rehearsal over zoom alone in my flat. It had already been a tough 3 months, having to move out of London and move back in with my mum. I was away from friends, alone with my own thoughts and separated from a community who I had only just joined, still riding high from my first pinkies concert at Cadogen Hall. 

Thankfully, each Sunday rehearsal added a little joy to my isolation and kept my going week-to-week. The team running the rehearsals also would share videos from the pinkies past, and in this particular rehearsal we were watching the video of the Pink Singers marching with Rainbow Voices Mumbai. It was obvious how meaningful this trip was to those who went, and looking at all my chosen family smiling, laughing and swapping anecdotes about trips past filled me with hope for the future. 

Well, after over two years, the Pink Singers travelled to Warsaw to sing with Voces Gaudii. We have been in communication with the choir over the last few years and have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to speak with them and learn about their choir online. As an LGBTQ+ community, it is so important to understand the history and community of our global family. Whilst our stories may differ based on the culture, history or regime, we all share in a perseverance for progress, safety and equality. What I did not expect was to have so many personal stories in common with members of the choir, not to mention the amount we all giggled together! 

On Thursday, we had our first meeting with Voces Gaudii in Ramona Bar. It was so lovely to meet the members of the choir and the energy was electric. Our hosts had prepared traditional polish snacks and, as was the case for most of the trip, I am pretty sure I spent the evening with food close by. In true pinkies fashion, it did not take long before we were all singing in both Polish and English, and it was amazing how quickly the two choirs blended their voices. 

Friday was concert day. After a lovely morning with the pinkies exploring the old town of Warsaw, we travelled to Kino Elektronik ready to perform. I am sure that it was a concert that none of us will ever forget and Voces Gaudii blew us all away. The weaving of beautiful traditional Polish anthems, to the power house performances of Muse’s “Uprising” and the particularly camp rendition of the Spice Girls “Wannabe” were particular highlights. However, performing “Born This Way” with Voces Gaudii blew the roof of the building! We spent the rest of the night in a local LGBTQ+ karaoke bar, dancing and singing the night away in metaphorical (and literal) perfect harmony! 

On Saturday we marched in the Equality March. Although no official figures have yet been released, we were informed that it was the largest LGBTQ+ event in Warsaw to date. This was my first pride-like event that I have marched in, and it was particularly momentous to see the happiness emanating from the community. After the march we went to Lunapark, a wonderful and wacky hybrid between a pop-up festival, a drag circus and a community meeting place. As someone who loves drag, it was incredibly special seeing performances informed by Polish culture, both historically, politically and with their own queer reference points. I have to thank the members of Voces Gaudii attending the event, who would whisper in my ear the context for every act so I could better understand what was happening!

Finally, on Sunday we were taken on amazing walking tour of Warsaw run by the fantastic Maciek, which explored the LGBTQ+ history of Poland. It was great to hear about amazing people from history such as the lesbian poet Maria Konopnicka, or about the uprising against queer oppression outside a squat in 2020.

Looking back on the trip now, I completely understand why singing around the world holds a special place in so many pinkies’ hearts. Finding my community in the UK has been incredibly moving, but finding community abroad with people who I have laughed, cried, danced and sang with is not only powerful in its social activism, but it is one of the first times in the last two years where I felt totally myself, supported by a community of incredibly kind and loving people. Thank you so much to Voces Gaudii for making us feel so incredibly welcome, and I am excited for a summer of more gigs with my chosen family. 

Will, Tenor

On the eve of London Pride and on the exact day 50 years on since the GLF first marched in London, our Chair Paul explains why the choir wont be marching and how we are celebrating pride in other ways this year.

Last year you might remember the Pink Singers decided to not take part in the Pride In London parade or associated events whilst the organisers worked on some equality and diversity issues. We have met with them again at an open community meeting and whilst some progress is being made with regard to new volunteer policies and training, we’d like to see evidence and public communication of some more concrete change.

So what does that mean for this year?

We’ve decided we will again sit out the main Pride in London parade this year. Instead, we will celebrate pride by joining other LGBT+ community pride events in London throughout the summer, including the GLF 50th anniversary march on 1 July, UK Black Pride, London Trans+ Pride and UK Bi Pride. We hope to see you there!

We want Pride in London to succeed and we have already taken part in the Science museum lates pride event this week, which we enjoyed immensely and was a great success. We look forward to participating in London’s pride parade in future and working with its organisers to develop the working relationship and align our organisation’s shared vision of inclusion and equality.

Bass Ken talks about the buzz of our last concert and how joining the choir helped him through his lowest moments during lockdown.

As I am writing this blog, I can still feel the buzz from our last concert “Gone Viral” performance at the Cadogan Hall. I can honestly say I really haven’t felt this much joy in my life before and the last couple of years have been especially hard.

As an introverted gay man who has been living with general anxiety for many years, the urge to be part of a community was a big driving factor for me joining the Pink Singers. London may look bustling from the outside, but it can also be a very lonely place. Reaching out to find new friends in such a big city can be really hard for an introverted person like me and I had felt very isolated before auditioning for the choir. 

I joined the Pink Singers in early 2020, just a few weeks before the world shut itself down due to the pandemic. In my first few rehearsals with the choir I immediately felt welcome. I had been so excited about being part of the choir’s recording in March 2020, but then everything was cancelled for obvious reasons – the start of lockdown in the UK. 

For me the whole lockdown period was such a roller coaster. Outside my day-to-day work, the Pink Singers’ Sunday zoom rehearsals really kept me afloat. It gave me the motivation to keep going for another week. It may seem funny to say this, but if someone asks me about my most memorable moment during the lockdown, I would say it was those Sunday afternoon zoom rehearsals where I was literally sitting on the floor of my flat-share bedroom with my iPad. Without the weeks of online rehearsal with the choir, I don’t know how I would have survived the isolation during that extended period. The first virtual project of the choir ‘Fix You’ was truly motivating. Despite not having met most of the members in person, I really felt I was part of the family in that video. 

After weeks and months of zoom rehearsals, we first met as a big group again in a multi-story car park in Peckham for outdoor rehearsals (it was the only way we could get together!). That was the first time we sang Chosen Family (an arrangement of the song by Rina Sawayama) as a choir together at one place. I remember the drops of my tears as we reached the chorus, singing in harmony ‘we don’t need to be related to relate. We don’t need to share genes or surnames…’ The chorus just represents how I feel being in the choir. It was in that moment that I knew I was in the right place with my new chosen family in London. 

For many people post pandemic life has been easier, but sadly that hasn’t been the case for me. If anything it’s been worse. The continuous working from home has exacerbated my feeling of being isolated as well as my anxiety. Reconnecting with my pre-COVID friends has been so challenging and again it has been the choir’s Sunday rehearsal that have been keeping me going. At some points it literally kept me alive in my lowest moments. At these not so eventful moments, again I received the care and support from my fellow bass singers. For most, it would be the singing, but to me Pink Singers has been more than just the singing, it is the solidarity within the choir that has been so important for me personally. 

I guess everything culminated at the Gone Viral performance. It was my first ever Pinkies’ big stage performance. Two years is probably the longest time a newbie has ever had to wait for their first performance with the choir and I had the best time of my life that weekend. I can still feel the energy from the crowd when we sang our final song ‘You can’t stop the beat’ as I am writing this. And it was great to have a few of my close friends and colleagues in the audience. That feeling of being able to be who I truly am, doing what I love and being surrounded by people I love is something I will always treasure. 

Living with anxiety means getting motivation in life can be a challenge. I have to say however, that the performance last weekend has given me the motivational boost that has been missing for the past two years. I think I am feeling my best again. Thank you, my fellow Pinkies – my Chosen Family. 

Ken, Bass 1

The Pink Singers will feature in the show Anyone Can Sing, which is set to for four weeks on Sky Arts from 30 March. Anyone Can Sing follows six participants as they are put through their paces as they learn to sing, proving that all of us can hold a tune. The English National Opera’s world-class vocal coaches – Nicky Spence, Sarah Pring and Michael Harper – mentor the would-be singers throughout the process, giving masterclasses on everything from vocal technique to stage presence and setting them a series of musical challenges with the help of singing superstars such as Katherine Jenkins to take their singing to the next level – all in the space of three months.

The Pink Singers feature in episode 3 on 13^th April, but you will see our Musical Director Murray Hipkin each week as he works with all the participants!

Anyone Can Sing runs from 30th March to 20th April. You can watch it on Sky Arts, now free for everyone to watch on Freeview Channel 11.