The Pink Singers Hit Malta Pride!

I love the Pink Singers' overseas trips. We've travelled to tons of places around the globe, mainly to north America and around Europe, and every experience is a new one. These little excursions give us the chance hang out with other Pinkies in a relaxed setting, do even more singing and, of course, meet other people who enjoy singing.
Our trip to Malta last week though, had a few notable differences. The first was that we were going to Malta to help support the Malta Gay Rights Movement at their Gay Pride week, and the second was that we were to sing with a church-linked choir. Maltese society is very traditional, and also staunchly Catholic, which made the whole event a unique one, in that we were there to build bridges and overcome differences.
Worthy as all of that is, before it - of course - came the holiday! We were all going out at different times, centering on the time of the concert, and these Pink Insiders left on the Monday after our summer concert. Malta is hot in July, and that limits activities any more strenuous than walking to the hours before 11am and after 4pm. Our first day was spent fixing the air conditioning in the hotel room and downing a bottle of rose.
I don't want to detract from any of the many wonderful historical and geographic sights in Malta - we went to the old capital at Mdina, saw the crypts at Rabat, and were dangly over the Dingli cliffs, and we visited the co-cathedral in Valetta and took pictures of the Grand Harbour - but at the end of the day this was a Pinkie holiday, so it was more about chilling with the others.
It isn't surprising that as the choir gets bigger you begin to lose touch with individuals. At rehearsal and then afterwards in the pub you don't often get the chance to speak to others. This time round though I spent much more time with people like Karin and Denise, Jules and Greg, James H and Alp. I really value getting to know them so much better, and it has reaffirmed my belief that the Pinkies really does attract some of the nicest people.
Kudos especially go out to Daniel B, who I regret not having gotten to know particularly well prior to our trip out to Malta, but who I now think is one of the kindest and most selfless people on the planet. After all it was he who basically made sure that our stay on Gozo was not only convenient, it was filled with experiences I never thought I'd encounter. There was the festa of St. George in Victoria with the frenzied enthusiasm of Gozitans cheering the placing of the statue on the plinth outside the cathedral. There was the slightly creepy sensation of swimming in darkness in the tunnel between the inland and outer sea.
Most memorable of all though was the glorious afternoon we spent on a boat cruising around Gozo. Jules was trying to demonstrate his cleavage to us ('nuff said) and a couple of ladies at the back of the boat overheard him and guessed that we were singers. It turned out that they were operatic sopranos themselves, and good ones too, from the Netherlands, and what followed then was much singing and laughing. It got the people on the upper deck chilled out too and they soon joined in. We jumped off the side of the boat into the clear blue water, swam, drank and sang some more. That evening was followed by a shared meal thanks to Charlie and Liang our chefs, accompanied by Bette Midler on the iPod, and operatic drinking songs. It was a magical day I will always remember, and none of it would been possible if it wasn't for the Pink Singers.
I was fully expecting the return to Valletta to be disappointing after that, and was surprised when things kept going on a high. We met the other Pink Singers that evening by the sea for a meal together but didn't stay out too late because we knew that it was Malta Pride the next morning.
Having just experienced Pride London a couple of weeks ago, and the sheer number of people both on parade and watching, I can honestly say that Malta Pride is a completely different kettle of fish. It was Pride shedding its ridiculous commercial appearance and getting back to the its roots: showing people that no, we are not weirdos, we are your brothers and sisters, your friends, your colleagues, so how can you discriminate against us? The march itself was not large, and the Pink Singers increased the number of marchers significantly. Andrew F had planned ahead and brought a stack of stickers from Amnesty International saying "Some People Are Gay, Get Over It", and had also invested in rainbow and trans flags for us to wave.
Despite the serious intent the mood was quite festive and we did provoke more than the odd stare from passers by. I had a long chat with Bernard from the Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM), and he lamented that there weren't more people active in their group. It seems that apathy is a global issue, and that many gay people seem to be happy with "adequate", rather than pushing for "equality". People do need to continue to fight intolerance, and it is interesting that the next day the Bishop of Gozo apparently set out a sermon condemning gays and lesbians as a danger threatening society, quite forgetting that we are part of society and have always been, not something which exists outside of it.
This makes the concert that evening all the more remarkable. It was partly the brainchild of MGRM, but came to fruition through Symphonik, a project of the Young Christian Workers of Malta. The latter group is made up of about thirty young men and women who have nobly taken on themselves the aim of overcoming prejudice through music. In London the Pinkies don't tend to be involved in such collaborative projects, so it was wonderful that we were given this opportunity in Malta.
As with all such events, there was some initial shyness as we first got to meet each other, but whether it is due to the incredible warmth of the Maltese people or just these Maltese in particular, I can honestly say that I now have some great new friends like Lorleen, Clyde and Martha.
Symphonik are a talented and very energetic group of performers. They write their own music and sing many of their own songs, and are lucky enough to have their own in-house band who provide much of the backing music, as well as many confident soloists who are not afraid to perform on stage in front of hundreds of people. I thoroughly enjoyed their set, especially their opening number Ameno and in the balcony I can tell you that the Pink Singers were singing along to almost everything from Can You Feel The Love Tonight to Bohemian Rhapsody.
As for our half of the concert, well what can I say? It was wonderful. Despite the stage being smaller than we are used to (despite our reduced numbers), and the presence of microphones, we sang well. We ought to have since the summer concert was just a week ago! This time round we performed 70s Dance Party as our finale, leaving Hallini as our last, surprise encore. I am the first to admit that I was worried about it. The last thing you want it for your encore to be less successful than your finale, but the moment we started singing the audience pretty much roared and clapped and sang along. Symphonik even formed a conga line and danced around the auditorium. The whole concert ended in a joint rendition of Angels which nearly blew the roof off it was that passionate and that loud!
Photo credit: Peter Borg
That evening was spent in the only gay (bar) in the village (sic.) called Tom's Bar. The proprietors didn't know what hit them because the Pinkies descended en masse after the concert, together with Symphonik and people from MGRM, swigging down their stock of Cisk, the local beer. It was there that Lorleen came up with the great idea of organizing a swimming expedition the next day.
Feeling just a little fragile the next morning, we left it until late to meet up, and even then it was after the heat of the day had lessened a little before we went out to the rocks. I was just thinking that our average Sunday is spent in one of the rooms at the Place; what a great idea if we could rehearse in the sea!
That evening, we met up again for what was another highlight of our Maltese visit. We took over the entire restaurant for some traditional Maltese food, including rabbit, fish and wrapped beef rolls. As with all these social events there was more singing to be had, from traditional Maltese songs, to spontaneous solos (Cormac was the consummate performer), to a reprise (albeit somewhat flat) of the previous night's repertoire. I loved it! At the end of the day, this is what it is about. Sexuality is a total non-issue and we share so much more in common than we have differences - it is these commonalities which count.
Speaking with MGRM at the end, I think they felt encouraged to keep Sounds of Diversity as an on-going event. Europe is certainly full of LGBT choirs who would jump at the chance to perform in Malta. I hope this is the start of many years of diversity to come!