The Rainbow Chorale plays big role in Pride Month
The Rainbow Chorale of Delaware has a busy summer coming up as it heads into Pride Month.
The Chorale is performing its spring concert “Shining our Light: Songs of Strength, Hope & Justice” at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 2, at the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant; performed at the Delaware Pride Festival in Dover on Saturday, June 1; is participating in an inter-Faith Pride Service at First & Central Presbyterian in Wilmington on Wednesday, June 5; is performing at the Sussex Pride Festival in Milton on Saturday, June 8; and is singing for the Delaware Contemporary’s A+ night on Thursday, June 13.
As if this weren’t enough, the Chorale and its auditioned small ensemble Prism also are preparing to go to Minneapolis in July for the 2024 GALA Choral Festival.
GALA (Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses) organizes a major choral festival every four years, and the Rainbow Chorale and Prism have participated since 2004. The 2020 Festival was canceled due to Covid-19 to great disappointment and the Chorale is eagerly looking forward to the 2024 Festival in Minneapolis this July 10-to 14. Over 200 choruses and more than 7,000 delegates are registered.
The GALA Festival is a wonderful experience for the Chorale members — the thrill of singing to packed halls, the inspiration of hearing the music of other choral groups in a multitude of styles, and the warm feeling of being part of a great community.
What is the Rainbow Chorale?
The Rainbow Chorale of Delaware is Delaware’s oldest LGBTQ+ and allies community chorus and will celebrate its 25th anniversary this fall.
An inclusive non-audition non-profit SATB (soprano/alto/tenor/bass) community chorus, the Rainbow Chorale is open to all adults at any level of musical experience and has a fifth section made up of non-singing volunteers.
Current members range in age from 18 to 85 and run the gamut from founding members who joined back in 1999 to members who just joined this April.
The Chorale rehearses at the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant in Bellefonte and sings up and down the state, giving concerts and performing to support other organizations. The Chorale has sung at inaugurations, Blue Rocks games, the Delaware Hospice Festival of Trees, weddings, funerals, the Nemours Children’s Hospital, church services and many more events.
The outreach program is an important part of the Chorale’s mission to impart the ideals, hopes, dreams of its community and strike a chord of commonality with its audience.
There is a strong feeling of family among the Chorale’s members. This is nurtured through sectional rehearsals, social events, and group outings, including pre and post-rehearsal meals.
The Chorale has a three-trimester season running from September to June; two of the trimesters end in concerts; one ends in a cabaret-style show featuring small group acts created by Chorale members. The group’s repertoire is an eclectic mix of music — jazz, pop, Broadway, classical, etc — performed with passion and energy.
Last September, the Chorale welcomed new Artistic Director Jon M. Timmons, a new collaborative pianist, Kevin Mucchetti, and has experienced a surge in membership throughout the 2023/2024 season, rising to 60 members.
The Chorale's past and future
The Rainbow Chorale of Delaware was formed in 1999. Unusually for the time, the chorus was created as a SATB group at that point most choruses in the LGBTQ+ community were formed as S/A or T/B groups.
The Chorale began rehearsals in the fall of 1999 under the direction of Elliot Jones and gave its first concert at First & Central Presbyterian Church on Dec. 12 1999 to a sold-out crowd. This was a momentous occasion.
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Founding member Renna Van Oot recalls, “When it was my turn to head out and step upon the risers, I saw them all. The audience was on their feet, their faces lit up, a swell of emotions burst from them to us, and from us to them… Here we were. Despite the message we should stay isolated, alone and silent. Here we all stood to raise our voices together … We took a deep collective breath. And we SANG.”
Over the following 25 years the Rainbow Chorale has grown and shrunk and grown again, weathered a global pandemic, but never stopped singing.
As it looks to the next 25 years it aspires to reach new audiences, collaborate with more organizations, and continue to elicit change through music.
Find out more at therainbowchorale.org.
Mary Reppy is treasurer and marketing & publicity chair for Rainbow Chorale.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Rainbow Chorale kicks off summer with Pride Month in Delaware