TUESDAY FEB 9TH, 2021

JK- I had the pleasure of interviewing Shawn on Zoom last month (unfortunately not in person).

I was hoping to have the interview ready to publish for our last Town Hall during Black History Month but the timing didn’t work out. So…here we are a month later.


First question I always ask…


JK- When and how did you come to the chorus?


SS- I had recently come back to the Bay Area after 4 years at Humboldt State (I was born and raised in the Bay Area…born in Oakland, raised in Alameda). In fall of 2016 I was visiting a friend in LA who is in GMCLA. When I heard them sing I thought “I need this”. I found OGMC (used to be OEBGMC) through an app called “Meet Up”. James was facilitating the app for the chorus at the time. I contacted him and he gave me all the information I needed for auditioning. 


JK- Is the chorus different now from how it was when you joined?


SS- I’d say the chorus is very different now from when I joined. The year before I joined there was not a lot of diversity. James had been trying to increase diversity in his advertising and recruiting new members. The year I joined there were a lot more younger people and people of color.  We continue to grow in diversity as we welcome trans people and women to sing with us. 


Billy was the director when I came in. I joined the chorus at that sweet spot when everything was going into a really positive trajectory. Billy greatly improved our professional look. He made us sound and sing better as a unit. 


JK- What’s your music background?


SS- I got started with music in my church choir. I was in the stands every Sunday trying not to fall asleep. I enjoyed singing but it was hard for tiny me to wake up at 6 AM and spend the entire day singing for the Lord.  Other than that I wasn’t participating in anything musically, just singing in the shower. I was in some high school musicals, but nothing in college.


JK- Tell me about high school musicals...Were musicals your “life” in high school as they are for many high school kids?


SS- I wouldn’t say they were my life but I really enjoyed them.  I went to Oakland School for the Arts to be an actor. It turns out only Drama majors got roles in plays so my next choice was musicals…..it turned out I really loved them and looked forward to the spring musical every year.  Usually I was in the ensembles but one year we did Seussical the Musical . I played Mr. Mayor which turned out to be really hard because I’m a bass and Mr. Mayor was a comical role with a higher voice. But I learned how to make the change in my voice and it worked out. 


In college I took some piano classes. I enjoyed it and tried to keep up with it but I didn’t practice enough and never took it further.  When I joined the chorus in 2016 after coming back to the Bay is when music really took off for me. 


JK- Did you start getting involved in chorus leadership and politics from the get go or did that come later?


SS- I’d say kind of from the get go….First season they leave you alone...then they say “Hey, You’ve been here long enough...come on, join a committee…” So I joined 4 committees. I really jumped in but it wasn’t too much work. 


JK- What committees did you join and how did it go? Did it lead to where you are now?


SS- I started with membership, finance, production and…I can’t remember the other.  I left the area for 7 months to move to Memphis but quickly came back. Steve Smith approached me about being a board member. I agreed, so I was on the board which makes you part of the leadership committee. Meanwhile, I was still on production and I dabbled with the marketing committee for a bit. I’m on the governance committee right now. That’s my general journey.


JK- Where do you see the chorus going at this point once we can be active and start meeting again?


SS- Once we can meet again I want to see us become more engaged in the local community that we have around us. Engaged in different ways than we have been...I love the outreach that we do and our concerts are great. I also want to see different kind of volunteer events. There are ways we can show up for our community that are high contact and low impact.  Wally suggested we do a clean-up around Lake Merritt…..things that will make us visible in the community around us. We can have fun being together and serve the community at the same time.


JK- Many people I’ve interviewed had said that the chorus became family and led to their involvement in their local gay community. Was that true for you being newly back in the Bay Area? Did you have a gay community before you joined chorus?


SS- Yes and No.  When I joined it definitely felt like family. And that is important to me. When I join any community it needs to feel like a family. OGMC was just the right size. I could get lost in the crowd if I wanted to without entirely becoming invisible, but I could also connect with so many different people personally. 


I was already connected to a few queer groups before I joined the chorus. When I first moved back to the Bay I was a health educator for Health Initiatives for Youth which is a non-profit in SF.  I worked with “We’re in Trans” youth across the Bay Area which connected me with local queer activist organizations so I felt like I was connected to local gay communities. I was also part of a queer volleyball group. 


JK- How do you see your involvement with BLM interfacing with the chorus?


SS- This goes back to what I said earlier about wanting to do more local events and showing up as a community. We, as a chorus, need to do more to show up for our people of color. We are a primarily white chorus and that does not reflect the diversity of our community. I want to see us reach out to the community around us to build some of those bridges and to create a culture of tolerance, acceptance and understanding of the diversity around us.


JK- Would you talk about the Black Lives Coalition? How did that come about?


SS- YES! I’d love to talk about that!  John Chastain approached me in June 2020 right after the killing of George Floyd. He said “We have to do something”. John and I started collaborating on what we could do as a chorus in the Oakland community to show our solidarity in a stand against racism. As BLC formed we had to look at “What can we be doing to be sure our own house is clean?”. We have to “clean house” so we can have the right impact on communities around us. We want to be sure the chorus shows up as welcoming and anti-racist. 


We welcome anyone to join the Black Lives Coalition. We meet Wednesdays at 7 PM. We have done a series of Town Hall meetings and we’re going to do a board and leadership diversity workshop and continue to make sure that the chorus strives to be welcoming to all people of color.


JK- I’ve learned a lot from the Town Hall Meetings. Thanks to you and the members of your committees for all the effort that has gone into Black Lives Coalition and reaching out to our very diverse community. It’s great to know that the chorus has been busy during the past year doing good in the world during the pandemic. We’ve stayed connected and afloat and we look forward to that work continuing into the future and especially to being able to sing together again.

 

Conducting Change: A Chat with Bruce Southard, D.M.A.

December 13, 2024
Conducting Change: A Chat with Bruce Southard, D.M.A.

Pride Giving Month

By Aaron Hughes • June 1, 2024
Support the Oakland Gay Men's Chorus this Pride Month!

A Celebration with the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus

By Aaron Hughes • June 1, 2024
By Seth Frost (He/Him), Board Secretary, Baritone. As we welcome Pride Month, it's a time to reflect, celebrate, and honor the journey of the Oakland Gay Men's Chorus (OGMC). Our chorus was established in 1999, and since joining in 2018, I have been proud to be part of this vibrant community. From my very first interaction, I felt a warm embrace, an invitation to be part of something bigger than myself. For many, like myself, OGMC has been a core connection to the queer community, especially for those who came out later in life. Performing shows is more than a passion; it's our way of enriching the broader community in Oakland and the SF Bay Area, showcasing the joy found in queer life. At the heart of OGMC is our mission statement: "The Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus gives voice through song to a community where everyone matters." This guiding principle shapes everything we do. Being in a chorus means standing bravely in public, singing, supporting each other, and creating something more beautiful than any of us could achieve alone. This Pride Month, we're particularly excited about our 25th Anniversary Season, featuring "You Can’t Stop The Beat." This show is a showcase of our talents, with small ensemble and solo pieces prepared by our members. It's also a preview of the music we'll be taking to the national GALA festival in Minneapolis later this summer. Songs like "True Colors" are on the lineup, and I can't wait to see my friends shine. Celebrating Pride in Oakland and at the GALA Festival is especially significant this year. Our recent commission from Marques L. A. Garrett, requested by popular demand, highlights the collaborative spirit of our members. This show, filled with solos and special performances, is a true celebration of our talented membership. What does Pride mean to you? Seth Frost (He/Him), Board Secretary, Baritone. Pride is a call to step forward and assert that we matter, that our voices deserve to be heard. Pride events counteract hate and help heal the shame within ourselves. Singing loudly and proudly, we offer comfort and a beacon to those who can't yet express themselves authentically. Our year-round performances often end with the chorus spreading out around the audience, fostering a sense of community, welcome, and safety for all. June Kamerling (She/Her), Tenor 1 Pride is a celebration of the LGBTQ community and all it stands for. By participating in events like Oakland Pride and Alameda Pride, we give back to the community and practice visibility and inclusion. The impact of our events is profound, creating a supportive community where everyone feels they belong. Shawn Simon (He/Him), Board Vice President, Base Pride means being able to love ourselves unconditionally and seeing others empowered to live authentically. It's important to celebrate Pride to remind ourselves of our worth, connect with our community, and honor our history. Organizing events like our concerts has been profoundly impactful, creating an inclusive community and supporting local organizations.

Si, Se Puede!

March 24, 2024
By Melvin Terry  March 31st was declared Cesar Chavez Day in 2014 by President Barack Obama. Cesar Chavez (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) founded along with Delores Huerta the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to become the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union . International Women’s Day was first celebrated in the early 20th century and became a mainstream global holiday in 1977. It helps to focus attention on women and concerns such as gender equality, equal wages, and violence and abuse against women. Another important issue is the lack of attention paid to the substantial contributions of women.

African American Library, a Little History of Oakland

February 20, 2024
By Melvin Terry Oakland is a diverse vibrant community with a goldilocks climate and an assortment of parks and trails with opportunities for exercise, socializing, and stunning visuals. It also has the benefits and drawbacks that come with a large city. But did you know about the history of Black migration to Oakland in the 1940’s and the rich culture that flourished in West Oakland back then? 7th Street, now the home of West Oakland BART and the sprawling main post office, was the hub of the community. There were many Black owned businesses and music venues. It was bustling and the place to be.

The Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus is Representing The East Bay at GALA!

December 25, 2023
By Melvin Terry It doesn’t seem so long ago when I first heard of GALA (GayLa), a sort of choral Olympics where queer folks from around the world get together every four years to celebrate our existence and joyously sing for each other. Well, it was 16 years ago, when I first joined the then Oakland East-Bay Gay Men’s Chorus in 2007.

Aaron Hughes Interview with June Kamerling

October 21, 2023
By June Kamerling Welcome to Aaron Hughes, recent-ish chorus member and our new Marketing Committee Chair. Aaron took over being chair of the chorus PR Marketing Committee when our former fearless Leader Denis Whitaker moved to Ohio last summer. Aaron comes to the marketing committee with loads of background in group management and organization. As I ask everyone I interview this first question, I asked Aaron as well….”How did you find OGMC”? AH: “It was just post pandemic, I was searching for the next thing I wanted to do. I did a google search and found that OGMC was having auditions. I reached out through a meet up group and got no response. I persevered and I later found out about the summer Sondheim Concert (this was summer 2022) Auditions and an open rehearsal were coming up. I went to the rehearsal to check it out and see what it’s like. I loved the feeling of this East Bay LGBTQ chorus community. I auditioned….and I was in. I even got a solo, the first concert as King George in the Hamilton song, “You’ll Be Back”. I asked, “What is your musical background?” AH: “In my earlier days I sang in a lot of chorus’s as a boy. I also played a bunch of instruments, but my true love was musical theater. My under grad is musical theater. I performed a lot in Australia, where I’m from. In my 20’s, I was passionate about Sondheim. I loved the PBS specials on the various Sondheim shows….(I’d watch in between other musical theater breaks). I got to see Company on Broadway the year Patty Lupone was in it”. J: “Would you talk about your sense of the chorus and how you got involved with PR Marketing?” AH: “Going into the chorus was my first opportunity to do something that was purely me. I was hugely nervous. I hadn’t done anything like this in 8 or 9 years. I felt like a deer in headlights. However, everyone was so friendly and welcoming, the chorus is where I found my “family”. I didn’t expect such an embrace of new people and non cliquey feeling as I’ve found in other chorus’s. It blew my expectation… having women and trans people in the chorus, being pronoun specific and respectful. There was so much care and attention to Covid policies. This was a different experience than other LGBTQ organizations I’ve been involved with. People were genuine, the music was wonderful and the organization seemed solid and like something I would like to be involved with. I think we don’t toot our own horn enough about how unique we are as an LGBTQ chorus”. J: “ What got you into being head of marketing- what’s your general sense of the structure of the chorus, aside from singing?” AH: “As I got more into the ‘behind the scenes’ of musical theater, I became a bit disillusioned and burned out so I stepped away for a while. I got a Master’s degree in Switzerland and travelled the world. Career-wise, I’m a chameleon. I was involved in mortgage, then hospitality for many years… now I have my own marketing firm. Within a year I’ve seen a massive arc in this chorus which lead me to wanting to be PR marketing chair. I entered the chorus at a seminal point of shift. The chorus came back after pandemic. Elements were shifting with-in leadership. There is an extraordinary amount of work that happens behind the scenes to have us where we are today. It’s pretty epic…..We’re having sold out shows back to back!! This is because of all the people in leadership, the strong foundation that has evolved. When it comes to Marketing and PR, I tend to get passionate for the WHY… Why do you want to do this as an organization? What’s the story? I started seeing challenges… an organization coming into transition. Some of the software systems we’ve utilized need to change and grow so that we can more clearly tell our story. So that we can be more visible in the community. Technology has changed so much over the years. We have to keep up with it and add it to PR marketing in order to be able to put ourselves out there to our members, our audience, our donors. Are we engaging with them? There are so many platforms available; Tic Toc, Instagram, Eventbrite, etc. Our audience base is diverse. Our communication ways need to be as diverse. I believe I bring this knowledge to this organization and to PR Marketing at this time… An understanding of these generational elements; Creating a space where this community gets to learn together. It’s a safe space where we get to tell our story. We get to add different elements of our visibility together.” J:“This is a big turning point- how do you envision the chorus going into the future”? AH:“I don’t think we celebrate how unique and spectacular we are. I see us being able to celebrate our story…..our history. Going into our 25 th year as a chorus is extraordinary. I joined this organization because of how people made me feel. I know I’m not alone in this. I can only see an organization like this growing and getting bigger, I don’t think it matters how big in numbers we get. We will not lose the authenticity that we have. I will continue to look at where I can be of value”. J: “Thank you Aaron for taking on this really important job as chair of PR Marketing. As a member of the PR Marketing committee I can already see a big difference in Our organization and push to become more visible out in the world as an LGBTQ chorus.”

True Colors Concerts: Oakland Gay Men Chorus Featuring New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus

April 1, 2023
By Melvin Terry We are thrilled to be joined by New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus a mixed-voice choral ensemble for singers who self-identify as transgender, intersex, or gender-queer (TIGQ). Their goal is to build a creative, empowered, joyful space for our TIGQ community, to encourage voices that have been silenced or shamed, to grow and be heard, and to change how the world thinks about gender identity and music. In these troubled times when there are multiple attempts to roll back rights for Queer, Black and Brown people such as far-right commentator Michael Knowles announcing from the Conservative Political Action Conference stage a few weekends ago that “transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely,” and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas hinting that after Roe Vs Wade was struck down other previous decisions should be revisited. Many of us are afraid that this conservative activist court might strike down same-sex marriage. There are many bills either passed or pending throughout the country restricting the ability to vote. Most affected by these new laws are Black and Brown people and people with limited means. Fortunately, some of us are showing our true colors and pushing back: A Nebraska Democrat, State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh began her filibuster during a Senate meeting a few weeks ago vowing to filibuster every bill her state Senate colleagues introduce if they support a measure that would restrict certain transition-related health care for minors. “If this Legislature collectively decides that legislating hate against children is our priority, then I am going to make it painful, painful for everyone,” - Cavanaugh said during the meeting. The mission of the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus is to give voice through song to a community where everyone matters. Through our repertoire, we aim to offer hope and encouragement to those in our community struggling with bullying, depression, and mental health and those who love them. These issues are highlighted in “You Are Enough” from Aron Accurso’s “A Mental Health Suite”. We believe you will be inspired and uplifted by Jonathan Larsen’s “Seasons of Love (from Rent),” Sara Bareilles’ pop hit “Brave,” and our title song “True Colors,” originally sung by Cyndi Lauper. “My Heart Be Brave” is a stirring and reflective piece composed by African American composer, Marques L. A. Garrett and based on a Sonnet by James Weldon Johnson, also African American, who along with his brother John wrote the words and music to “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, the Black National Anthem.

Seth Frost & Kelvin Ellis Interview with June Kamerling

April 1, 2023
By June Kamerling With our upcoming spring concert, “True Colors,” a few weeks away I interviewed Seth Frost and Kelvin Ellis, two baritones in Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus. They both also sing with New Voices Bay Area Trans, Intersex and Genderqueer Chorus, who will be joining OGMC for a few songs. I asked Seth first, “How did you find OGMC, and what was the chorus like when you first joined?” “My former voice teacher Eli Conley ( www.eliconley.com ) told me about OGMC. He knew Billy Sauerland, our previous director before Ben, because Billy did his dissertation on voice education for trans people and Eli is passionate about teaching trans singers. That was in summer 2018, so I’ve been in OGMC for roughly 10 seasons. I was nervous at first because I hadn’t been a part of a queer chorus before, but everyone was really friendly and welcoming. My first concert was the summer show, kind of Disney-esque. Some of the members were auditioning for small ensembles, and doing all this cool singing/dancing and there were costumes. It was pretty amazing and really fun. Most memorable was Billy announcing that there would be a giant evil Donald Trump head during the theme song from ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. I thought he was kidding. He wasn’t.” Seth moved to the Bay Area in 2015 from Lawrence, Kansas. He took piano lessons as a child, and later sang in the civic choir in his home town. He didn’t have traditional voice lessons until he started with Eli. Seth’s mom had played clarinet in high school, so Seth followed suit, but eventually quit band because it conflicted with the Latin class he wanted to take (“I was the wrong kind of nerd for marching band”). Next I talked to Kelvin, one of the newer members of OGMC. “I found my way to OGMC in January 2022, through Seth. I grew up in a family of singers and musicians, and I was interested in singing but not at all confident in my voice. I did take piano. Around 2012 I took my first taiko drumming class and loved it. In 2018, after coming out, I found a group called Queer Taiko which I still perform with periodically ( taikoandcommunity.org/queertaiko ). [Seth says he’s very good.] We do some vocalizing, like shouting words and sounds, and the teacher was very encouraging, so that kind of unlocked my voice finally. Then in 2020, a friend-of-a-friend recommended ‘New Voices.’ I joined on Zoom during lockdown, and it was like part chorus, part support group. When we resumed rehearsing in person, I met Seth. We sat next to each other, and then started carpooling from the East Bay, and… On one of our first dates, Seth was gushing about this other chorus he was in (and on the board of). I was nervous but it sounded super fun and I wanted to finally get into singing. OGMC has been a blast. I feel like I’m finally in the right place at the right time.” About New Voices New Voices Bay Area Trans, Intersex and Gender Queer Chorus will be joining Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus in our April 15 th and 16 th concerts “True Colors”. New Voices Bay Area TIGQ chorus is run like a (free!) tuition class through San Francisco Community Music Center. Here is a little about them, including a socially-distanced recording made for the 2021 Billboard Music Awards: https://ybgfestival.org/event/new-voices-bay-area-tigq-chorus/ They’ve been around since 2018 and sing about 4-5 engagements a year. The chorus is comprised of about 30 men, women and a wide variety of people with non-binary gender identities. Rather than SATB, the voice categories are numbered as 1, 2, 3, 4. Singers are able to move from one part to another as they feel comfortable, and there are often in-between parts, “1.5, 3.5” etc. The director is Reuben Zellman, one of the first openly trans rabbis in the country ( https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_Zellman ). “How did it come to be that we’re singing together?” Seth has been telling each group about the other for a while, trying to be a bridge between the two. Previous director Billy was especially aware of trans issues in the singing community and worked hard to make the chorus a trans-friendly place. When Billy left, Seth made it his job to bridge the two choruses. Brian Tognotti, on the artistic committee of OGMC, asked Seth who to talk to, and Seth got him in touch with Reuben. In our time talking, we discovered that Kelvin’s parents were in The Berkeley Broadway Singers chorus with me many years ago (small world).

Tribute from OGMC to Curtis Marsh

March 13, 2023
 By Steve Smith, Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus Board of Directors Frequently the brightest spot in anyone’s day is the person who looks after their hair. In those intimate conversations, we trust that person with news, opinions, and world-problem-solving. During the pandemic, Curtis Marsh became one of those pilgrims who made house calls to keep people presentable, sane, and somewhat connected to other humans. Imagine the brightest of bright spots once a month outside on the little deck at my place! We sang together in the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus, which gives voice through song to a community where everyone matters. When Curtis joined in 2019, we had just been invited to work with the Oakland Symphony Chorus to perform Beethoven pieces with Emmanuel Ax under Michael Morgan’s direction. As an accomplished Tenor, Curtis was thrilled with the opportunity and plunged into performance mode. An amazingly rewarding cooperative experience was the result. Curtis was born to perform and to delight audiences. He brought style and verve to every event, large and small. While everyone was scrambling to make things work during the pandemic, Curtis was one of our group of 70 or so who could not safely sing inside with large groups of people, so he and I kept up through the monthly haircut housecalls. A favorite set of conversations about travel and keeping in touch with friends and family despite every obstacle were Curtis’ grand plans for his High School Reunion to be held this past summer back in Iowa. Although some classmates apparently proposed a fairly modest one-evening event, Curtis was determined to expand the scope and see to it that a 3-day party was in order. Sending wigs and gowns ahead, Curtis arranged an evening for all at Roederer’s Pit Stop in Burlington IA. I can only imagine the sheer delight he created for all those folks he used to know. His murder Saturday is all about shock and horror. How much hate can there be lurking in the soul of some other person in a sweet Oakland neighborhood where Curtis had lived among friends for 15 years? The life force of this man was a gift deserving love, gratitude, and applause. We salute Curtis and will rely upon law enforcement in Oakland to apprehend his killer and to prevent that evil from continuing in our community. With love from the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus.
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