SPREADING JOY
NM Gay Men’s Chorus doing holiday shows at Lensic, Hiland
The New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus is still having a “first” — even after 30 years of existence.
“We’re going to play the Lensic,” says Aaron Howe, artistic director of the chorus. “We’ve never been at the Lensic and are looking forward to it.”
The chorus is presenting its holiday show, “Love & Joy: From Us to You,” in both Santa Fe and two shows in Albuquerque at the Hiland Theatre.
The chorus began in 1981 with the name the Brash Ensemble.
It started as a 16-member group and has varied in size from eight to 50.
As one of the country’s first gay men’s choruses, the ensemble functioned as a performing group within its parent organization, Common Bond.
The New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus was one of the first choruses in the country to become a member of the GALA Choruses.
The current chorus has about 50 members.
Howe says finding the songs for the holiday concert presents some challenges.
“There’s a lot of holiday music,” he says. “Every year, there’s a big emphasis with current artists doing their own holiday albums. It seems like the most popular songs were written in the ’50s. I try to select a decent mix of sacred and secular Christmas music. There is some Hanukkah music, as well. The main difficulty is finding something arranged for a men’s chorus.”
Howe points out that most choral arrangements aren’t done in tenor, tenor, bass, bass, which the men’s chorus specializes in.
“That music is a little rare,” he says. “It would take a long time to arrange many of the songs.”
Howe aims not to repeat pieces from previous years. The chorus members, from Santa Fe and Albuquerque, rehearse once a week.
“One of the pieces I’m excited about is ‘Burn’ from Ellie Goulding,” he says. “We’ve changed up the words a little bit. It’s about light, love and hope. It just took a little bit of tweaking to put into a medley. We’re also doing ‘Baba Yetu,’ and that’s the African piece. It’s in solidarity with African culture and recognizing their tradition in holiday time.”