This article is © The Morning Call Newspaper Company

Date: Saturday, November 4, 1995

Page: A41  Edition: THIRD  Section: ENTERTAINMENT

GAY MEN'S CHORUS CHALLENGES PREJUDICE

by GEOFF GEHMAN, The Morning Call

Choirs are many things: spirit-lifting vehicles, organs of fellowship, compositional tools. The Lehigh Valley Gay Men's Chorus shares these roles, plus one more: to promote tolerance.

Several stripes of freedom will be offered tonight when the 14-member choir presents its first local full-length concert at Wesley United Methodist Church in Bethlehem. On the bill are provocative works such as Randall Thompson's "The Testament of Freedom," words courtesy of Thomas Jefferson, and Brahms' "Alto Rhapsodie," which calls for opening "o'er-clouded eyes." The lighter fare ranges from "Over There" to "Nearer My God to Thee."

The chorus began with a loss. In the brutal winter of 1994 Robert Roush was fired as director of management services for the private Pennsylvania Legal Services. While the dismissal was a blow, it did end a long commute from Allentown to Harrisburg, and gave him more time to compose. To further maintain his sanity, Roush decided to found a choir with his partner, baritone Steven Olofson.

Never having run a vocal group, the co-directors sought advice from a national  umbrella organization, the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA). Nine of its 130 members are from Pennsylvania, including the Valley-based A Chorus Celebrating Women (ACCO). It was through GALA that the local chorus performed last month with other men's choirs, the Hershey Symphony and opera singer Marilyn Horne. She sang the solo in "Alto Rhapsodie," which ACCO Director Beverly Morgan will perform tonight.

Roush says the choir's name was debated intensely. Some members felt the less-charged "Lehigh Valley Men's Chorus" would attract more spectators and singers. Roush claims "gay" was retained as part of a mission statement.

The group, he points out, offers a more "positive" way for like-minded men to meet than, say, in bars. It brings the "redeeming" accomplishments of homosexuals to the attention of uninformed heterosexuals. Tonight, the chorus will sing pieces by gay composer Wayne Chadwick, whose "To Love and Be Loved" was commissioned by a gay choir in Dallas, and non-gay composer Johannes Brahms, whose "Alto Rhapsodie" will be directed by straight conductor Dan Tuck.

Perhaps the most important objective, claims Roush, is to challenge prejudices through resonant texts. He's particularly affected by a Jeffersonian statement quoted in "The Testament of Freedom": "We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness that inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them." 

"If we don't do something to get people to view us in a more positive light," says Roush, "that's the bondage, that's the slavery."

The slavery of musical tradition is a less serious kind of imprisonment Roush wants to end. Tonight's program reflects someone who's written everything from a Requiem Mass to a work featuring bizarre messages from his college roommates. For Thompson and Brahms, the singers will wear tux shirts and bow ties. For updated spirituals, the uniform will be khaki pants and green polo shirts.

Roush credits Charles Ives and John Cage with shaping his rule-breaking philosophy. Roush expects the chorus' spring concert will be slightly eccentric, too. He plans to spotlight pop music from the 1960s and '70s. He hopes the more entertaining angle will bring at least 10 more singers to the fold. And you don't have to be gay, he says, to join.

The Lehigh Valley Gay Men's Chorus will perform at 8 p.m. today in Wesley United Methodist Church, 2540 Center St., Bethlehem. Information: 821-0578.

 PHOTO by TOM VOLK, The Morning Call