Sweet singers' voices of approval

By WILLIAM DART

If there were such a word as "choraloholic", then it would be perfect for Dennis Coleman. Back home in Seattle, he seems to work with a different choir every night, but this week in Auckland, he's conducting the Seattle Men's Chorus on the first gig of its Australasian tour.

Coleman has been involved with the SMC for 22 of its 24 years and comes up with statistics to make the head reel.

It's the third largest music group in Washington state, and the biggest gay men's choir in the world; it has the largest professional staff of any US choir (13 on the payroll at the last count) as well as - eat your hearts out, Kiwi choristers - a budget of $US3.2 million ($5.8 million).

But it's not about number-crunching.

"This is a choir with a very strong mission," says Coleman. "We're one of the 180 or so gay and lesbian choirs in the United States using music to reach as many people as possible, giving out a positive message about gay men, lesbians, the community as a whole and the need for people to come together around that issue.

"We are a real community chorus in the sense that we take people off the street, unlike other choral groups that attract only experienced singers.

"If a person is willing to give the time and if they need the social support structure of this chorus, as long as they can hold a tune and have a decent ear I'm going to take them. I find it a real challenge."

With 270 singers on the books (and 70 in the touring show), the choir is a huge success in human terms.

Coleman describes the Auckland concert as "a bit of a variety show" although he's proud of a special bracket of offerings from the Southern Hemisphere. Psalm 150 by the Brazilian composer Ernesto Aguiar is "a fiery acappella setting that has taken the whole choral world by storm". Past Life Melodies by Australian Sarah Hopkins uses "overtone singing to create the sound of the didgeridoo".

Back home in the Emerald City, the group brings in a wide catchment of audience, the result of careful programming.

"For a choir of gay men, we don't do very much specifically gay material. We like to find themes running through everyone's life."

Nevertheless, Auckland will hear David Maddux's Michael's Letter to Mama, with a text taken from Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City.

"This book was the first mainstreaming of a gay story to the American media, and this musical coming-out letter has become a real favourite amongst gay choruses."

There'll be razzle-dazzle too, when the men give a selection from the Broadway musical Hairspray, including some ritzy choralography.

Add to all this two bonuses. Sharing the stage with the Seattle choristers is Ann Hampton Callaway, one of the sharpest cabaret talents around (she wrote and sang the theme song for TV's The Nanny).

As a fan of the singer for decades, I'm assuming this will be a highlight of my concert year.

The other bonus is a local one. A selection of items from Auckland's Gay and Lesbian Singers will include The Wine-Rich Arteries, a Keri Hulme poem set to music by David Hamilton.

The Singers gave the work its Australian premiere at the Sydney Opera House last year as part of the Gay Games and now, in the classiest of musical company, they're bringing it home to us.

* The Seattle Men's Chorus, Auckland Town Hall, Friday, 8pm.