Thoughts On The Pink Singers At 25: Music

2008 will mark my fifth year in the Pink Singers. This puts me just about in the middle of the active choir by length of membership, but I am still wet behind the ears in the grander scheme of things. Indeed, on the 7th of April 2008 the Pink Singers will be celebrating our 25th birthday. Yes, it will be a quarter century since London's lesbian and gay community choir was created to add some music to the London Pride march of 1983. And no, that's not a photo of me, but of the very handsome James M!

As Philip R is fond of saying, we’ve been going longer than the Allied carpet sale, and the Pinkies are, I believe, Europe’s longest running gay and lesbian choir. Naturally, in that time, the Pink Singers have undergone a number of changes – the Pinkies in 2008 are marginally more organized than the motley crew of 1983 for instance – but the twin cores of our existence: music and community still remain and are better and stronger than ever.

This post started out as a short piece on my thoughts on the Pink Singers: my experience of where we’ve come from, where we are now and my ideas on where we could be headed in the next 25 years. But there really is so much to say that I’ve split it into separate parts, one on music and one on the community. What are your views? Leave a comment!

A very brief history of time

A couple of years ago, Liang and I got together to catalogue the music the Pinkies have performed since the very beginning, or at least the music which Michael has accumulated over his 23 year stint in the Pink Singers. We sifted through eight huge lever-arch folders to create the spreadsheet (available on the Pinkies Yahoo! Group, if you have access), and as you might imagine, our complete repertoire is constantly being added to, and now numbers in the hundreds of songs.

It is a real treasure trove, not only for the music itself, but because its history is also a chronology of our choir. The very earliest music was about lesbian and gay issues and consisted largely of popular tunes where the lyrics were appropriated to serve a cause (Chorus of the Lesbians and Gays instead of Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves anyone?). Some of it is tongue-in-cheek amusing, some deadly serious; our repertoire spans an era which includes Thatcher, Section 28, the AIDS epidemic and the attenuation and renaissance of gay pride. There are many, many pieces, written or arranged, bearing the names of Pinkies who still remember being in the Pink Singers with fondness, and those who are no longer with us. I remember noting that as the choir used to be male dominant with just a few altos and no sopranos, much of the music was arranged for ATB or even TTBB. Our now traditional SATB setup is a relatively new phenomenon.

Since that time the choir has increased in size, society has changed around us, and so has the music we perform. While we continue to sing music we enjoy, it seems to me that our focus is now less about being overtly strident on LGBT issues and more about showing that we are a great choir regardless of whether we are gay or not. This phenomenon is largely true of most LGBT groups where the standard, even for amateurs, is often reassuringly high.

While it is important to recognize all our former musical directors, especially for nurturing the nascent and fragile group in the early years, this gradual shift in emphasis is due in large part to a decade’s worth of Mladen, our current musical director, who has stamped his mark on the Pink Singers. This has not always been without resistance, and Mladen’s occasionally concise style can be mistaken for brusqueness, but there is no denying that his carrot and stick approach has certainly improved our technical precision as a choir. I really do appreciate it, particularly when we perform with other choirs at concerts or festivals when a comparison is almost inevitable.

The other factor which I think has contributed to our ascent is the increased longevity of members of the choir. I can only speak from my relatively short experience of the Pink Singers, but the seasonal attrition rate has diminished, whereas the devotees who stay year in and year out has definitely climbed. Our choir is larger than ever due to an ever increasing core of stalwarts. Like a baby, it takes at least nine months for our performances to gestate (much longer than a single season) which explains why a new piece usually spans two seasons before we get it right. The persistence of more experienced members within the choir means more people know the music, which in turn helps new members along.

Members stick around because the atmosphere is great in the Pinkies. The Pink Singers are a friendly bunch and nothing beats the thrill of putting on a show together. Coming back from the World AIDS Day gig and a wonderful performance in Paris, I am of course inclined to think more highly of us, but there is a real sense of camaraderie and, without – I hope – sounding too corny, a sense of cohesiveness which contributes to our singing.

Reputations and repertoires

One of our musical strengths is our tight harmony, but such precision does not come without hard work. Within the choir, there are some people who read music and some who don’t, just as there are members who can pick up a tune having sung through it once, while there are some who have to keep rehearsing until the tune sticks. And being quick to learn the notes doesn’t mean being quick to know the words, just as being good at singing does not necessarily mean being good at dancing.

Keeping everyone happy is no easy task. Currently, musical support for our members comes via our Sunday practice, especially with the split sectional rehearsals, and at home with sheet music and rehearsal piano tracks. Not everyone uses these tracks to practise, but for some members it is absolutely essential, and getting the CDs out in a timely manner is important for these Pinkies. Choreography also takes time for those of us (me!) with spatial impediments, and although I know it contributes immensely to our stage presence, it may be an idea to not spring movements on the audience until we have had a chance to hone our moves over at least a season.

The other side of the coin is how much work people put into rehearsal themselves. I know Hester goes for her own voice classes and, on top of that, practises in what seems like every free moment, even when she is attending conferences overseas! Like a saddo, I walk around with my mp3 player, listening not to the charts, but to Michael banging away on the keyboard. The thing is, for me it isn’t a chore – I get off on the satisfaction of hearing the choir come together and my tiny contribution to that.

Our other great strength musically is the diversity of our repertoire. In Paris for instance, we performed some classical, both old (Bruckner) and new (Jenkins), some pop (Come What May, ABBA Pink etc.), showtunes (Wash That Man) and some jazz (Big Band Bash). Next season Michael tells me we will be doing a bit of gospel as well. Not only does it keep the audience entertained, it keeps us from getting bored with what we’re singing. There is literally something for everyone.

The way the music for each season is chosen is quite democratic: everyone can suggest what they want to sing. When I Fall In Love which we are performing this season is, for instance, the result of Simon’s suggestion from last year; I was with him when we paid a visit to Chappell to track down the sheet music. It was Liang’s inspiration after watching a film on Edith Piaf which led to Hymne A L’Amour. And I think it was Tanya who wanted us to sing Diamonds Are Girl’s Best Friend because the tenors and basses were getting all the attention from Wash That Man. Correct me if I’m wrong!

I’ll be the first to admit that not everyone likes all the music all the time, but the fact is that if you don’t like a particular piece you can suggest something which you do like. The ultimate decision lies with the musical directors, but it sure helps if you can provide them with the sheet music in an SATB arrangement and preferably a recording of someone actually singing the piece. That’s how my own suggestion of Karl Jenkin’s Requiem entered our repertoire last season. Even better, if you write or arrange your own music, the Pinkies will almost definitely give it a shot. As everyone has different musical tastes, it keeps our repertoire diverse.

That versatility is not something which comes easy: performing Wash That Man calls for a very different vocal quality than, say, Bruckner’s Afferentur. Our timbre, especially in the more formal pieces, could be better shaped, or as Mladen likes to call it, “more mature”. In addition to that, it would be useful to be schooled in the basics of singing: breathing, projection and pronunciation. Last season we were fortunate to have some vocal training, and I hope that such coaching will become a regular feature because I found it really useful.

As for our dynamics, well, we are getting better, but there is a long way to go yet. I’d say our range is currently from mezzo piano to fortissimo; the quieter passages still elude us. We are capable of hushed singing – when Babette from Equivox told us to sing that sotto voce passage from Let The Sunshine In (“Manchester England England”) in a pianissimo, it was the quietest I had ever heard us perform!

The best is yet to be

In the last quarter century the Pink Singers have come so far musically. I am honoured to have been on that journey for five of those years, and am incredibly proud of where we are at the moment. At the same time, however, I also think we can be even better. Here’s looking forward to the next 25 years! A future post will be about that second, and arguably more important, part of the Pinkies: community.

P.S. All photos here courtesy of Mark Weeks.