Although rain threatened, nothing could dampen the spirits of those
who turned out for Pride on June 14. Kids and dogs came too, along

with a few state politicians, and rainbow flags were carried by the
dozen up Main St. as the rain held off.

Vocal Minority Sings Out Across VT  

 

BY PAUL’ OLSEN

he hills of Vermont are again alive
with the sound of music. No, the
Trapp Family Singers have not
-egun a reunion tour. Rather, Vermont’s
;ay men’s chorus, A Vocal Minority,
ecently completed a statewide concert
eries with performances in Hartland, St.
ohnsbury and Montpelier.
Established in 1998, A Vocal

‘ /linority is the brainchild of Tim Menk,

lob Larabee, and Yves Morrissette, who
et up a table at Vermont Pride Day to

ecruit members. The nonprofit organiza-
.on’s articles of incorporation say the

roup was established “for the education,
njoyment, and cultural enrichment of its
iembers and audiences, the Corporation
eeks to foster gay community spirit and

pride and to present a positive gay image

to the community at large.”

According to chorus director Tim
Tavcar, A Vocal Minority was formed to
create beautiful music and to provide an
alternative social opportunity for gay men
in Vermont. From an educational stand-
point, Tavcar wants the 12-member group
to put a face on the gay community. “We
usually do two formal series of concerts
late fall and late spring in three different
locations,” he told OITM. “Our member-
ship centers around the

'Montpelier and St. Johnsbury areas so we

usually perform there. Other places have
included Burlington, Hartland Four
Comers, Cambridge and Lebanon NH.
“We often perform as a group or a

smaller ensemble for things like PRIDE
fiindraisers, services of remembrance for
those lost to AIDS, [for] civil unions, and

benefits for other social service organiza-

, tions such as Habitat for Humanity,”

Tavcar added. “We have also been invited
to perform twice for the Farmers Night
Concert Series at our Statehouse. This past
February we did an entire concert of gay
composers and poets in the House cham-

‘ber, which raised more than a few eye-

brows.”

Chorus member Bill Pelton of
Montpelier told OIT M he joined,A Vocal
Minority because of his love for music and
for the opportunity to socialize. “l’ve sung
off and on for a decade and missed being
part of some kind of a choral group,” he
said. ‘‘It can also be challenging for gay
men to make contact with other gay men,
and it is really nice to have some kind of a
common interest to focus around.”

While one might expect a gay
men’s chorus to perform Broadway Show

tunes, A Vocal Minority’s recent concert at
the Unitarian Church in Montpelier includ-
ed 16 classical and medieval works like
Music of the Ages by Keith Christopher,
Fa Una Carzzana by Orazio Vecchi, and
Dreams by Langston Hughes. “We try to
do a big range,” Tavcar said of the group’s
performance. “The music selection is actu-
ally dependent on who l’ve'got in the cho-
rus at any given point in time. We’ve done
a lot of Sondheim in thepast and some
stuff from Phantom of the Opera and
Sweeney Todd. We try to perfomi gay
composers. I want to make sure that our
own community is represented."
Later this year, A Vocal Minority

plans to release its first compact disk, ten-
tatively titled Music of the Ages. V

Paul Olsen lives in C olchester and also
writes for In Newsweekly.