Alternative choir remains inclusive

Having a choir for gay, lesbian and transgendered people may seem oddly specific, but its director says the point is to include everyone.

“We don’t discriminate...everyone and anyone who wants to sing in our choir is welcome.”

Vic Hooper is the artistic director of the Rainbow Harmony Project, Winnipeg’s choir for gay, lesbian, transgendered, bisexual and two-spirited (GLBTT) people.

And the choir isn’t as unique as someone might think.

“As far as I know, there are hundreds of choirs all over the world,” said Hooper.

“There’s one in Saskatoon, Regina, a few in Toronto and Ottawa, at least five in Vancouver,” said Bev Budiwski, the choir’s communications person.

The purpose of the Rainbow Harmony Project is not only to give like-minded people a chance to socialize and share music together, but to showcase a group that is part of the bigger community, said Hooper.

“It’s also to help demonstrate, since we’ve now been granted equal rights...us being part of society as a whole, contributing to the community.”

Winnipeg’s Rainbow Harmony Project has been in existence since 1999.

Currently sporting 50 members, the choir has travelled to Vancouver to take part in GLBTT concert events and recently shared a concert with One Voice Mixed Chorus, North America’s largest GLBTT choir.

The group rehearses once a week at the least, with sectionals done at other times.

And members don’t have to be singers when they join.

“If the person can’t carry a tune...I’ll work with them personally,” said Hooper. “But the calibre of the choir has gotten to the point where non-singers, I guess, have sort of weeded themselves out.”

Hooper said many spouses and supporters are part of the choir in other ways, helping with staging, performance, ticket sales and other jobs.

This week, Rainbow Harmony Project is performing its annual Many Gifts holiday concert. Budiwski says while the group isn’t an activist group in the traditional sense, they do sing about issues that affect their community.

For example, this Saturday they’ll be performing a piece from Watershed Stories, a collection of music drawn from the experiences of real prairie people in Saskatchewan, called Now Is The Time.

But most of the music will be spiritual or familiar in nature, including Spanish christmas carols, the song Chanukkah’s Child, Aboriginal music and songs about peace and harmony.

Many Gifts takes place at Knox United Church Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m., 400 Edmonton St. Tickets are $15 and available at McNally Robinson or online at kwiktix.ca. For more information about the choir visit therainbowharmonyproject.ca