LGCSF History Corner: 1982 Part 2

Hello to all my faithful readers and want to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day. This week I am writing about the second half of 1982 and what we did in our concerts. "Together in Harmony" was the title of our concert held on November 13 at the First Unitarian Church. You will see the cover of our concert program attached. We opened the concert with music from "Nabucco" by Giuseppe Verde. We next sang "Pavane" by Gabriel Faure then the men of the chorus "Invocation" by Debussy and the women sand "Salut Printemps" also by Debussy. Next the chorus was back to sing Brahms' "Nanie, the Chamber Chorus performed "Neve Liebeslieder Walzer" also by Brahms and the chorus ended the first half with the "Echo Song" which we sang a capella.

After the intermission, Vocal Minority performed a "Portrait of Duke Ellington" which included "Sophisticated Lady," "Satin Doll," "Mood Indigo," "Solitude," and "It Don't Mean a Thing." Then the full chorus was on to round out the concert with "All the Things You Are" by Hammerstein and Kern, a "Porgy and Bess Medley" by the Gershwins and we ended with "Beat! Beat! Drums!" by Howard Hanson.

Next for us was our appearance with the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus in the Third Annual Now Sing With Hearts Aglow which was held at the Nourse Auditorium on December 19 and 24. For our part, we joined forces with the men to open the concert singing "Personent Hodie," from 1360 Germany and "Here We Come a Wassailing." Then we sang another "O Magnum Mysterium" by Tomas Luis de Victoria. Then the women of the chorus sang a piece by J. S. Bach, then the Chamber Chorus performed three pieces, "Lullay My Liking," "My Dancing Day," and "In Dulci Jubilo." The full chorus then sang Ernest Bloch's "Silent Devotion" and a Chanuka song "Mi Y'Malel."

Then our Vocal Minority came on and sang four pieces - "Fa La La Fantasie," "Bless the Beasts and Children," "Jingle Bells," and "Good Christian Friends Rejoice." Then the full chorus again was on stage to finish the first half with "A Christmas Carol" by Tom Lehrer, "Good King Kong Looked Out by P. D. Q. Bach, one of our favorite composers, and of course the "Hallelujah Chorus" by G. F. Handel.

Also one other major event we participated in was the West Coast Choral Festival (C.O.A.S.T. - Come Out and Sing Together) held at Nourse Auditorium on September 4 with 7 other choruses. This was part of the Second Annual Gay Chorus Directors and Business Managers Convention. The registration fee for this event was $30.00.

One of the photos attached is of the cover of The Voice, which was one of the gay newspapers of that time. On the cover is the new director of the SFGMC, Ernest L. Veniegas, Jr., who came on board with them earlier in the fall. The other person pictured is our own Robin Kay, who at that time had announced her decision to step down as our director. Of course this means that 1983 would be a year of change for us as we would begin the search for a new permanent director. This I will be talking about and what happened and how we went forward in next week's installment so please stay tuned.

Keep loving yourselves and stay together in harmony, Michael Lucero

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