Gays in Obama's Inaugural

You can look for LGBT musical organizations in the Obama Inaugural.

Gay Band to March in Inaugural Parade

The Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA), a musical organization comprising marching and concert bands from across the United States and around the world, is proud to announce the five musical selections it will perform during the parade for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20, 2009. LGBA is the first lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender group in history to be invited to march in a President’s Inaugural Parade.

More info here.

Gay Men's Chorus of Washington to Perform at Opening Concert

The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington (GMCW) will perform at the Opening Celebration for the 56th Presidential Inaugural, on Sunday, January 18, 2009. The event will take place from 2:00-4:00 pm with an exclusive broadcast on HBO the same day (7:00-9:00 pm ET/PT). The event is free and open to the public, kicking off the most open and accessible Inauguration in history.

More info here.

I have friends in both organizations and am proud of them all.

(Living in DC and watching the Secret Service putting a vice grip on things to shut the city down, I would have to quibble with "Most open and accessible...")

Killing Two Dreams with One Concert

This June I'll be conducting DCDD's Captitol Pride Symphonic Band (at left on tour in New Hampshire last year) at the Kennedy Center.

To conduct at the Ken Cen (actually, any major concert hall) is a lifelong dream.

I'll also be conducting the symphonic band and the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington.

We're guests of the GMCW for their June concert and we have a 30 minute set opening the concert. Then we do two joint pieces, "When You Believe" from "The Prince of Egypt" (you probably know it from the Mariah Carey version) and Randall Thomson's "Testament of Freedom."

I'm conducting the "When You Believe" number in addition to our opening set.

A small minded person a few years ago leveled a charge against me that I'd rather conduct a chorus than a band.

That's not worthy of a resonse, but I will say that I can't imagine any conductor not being thrilled with the opportunity to conduct the large and varied forces offered by a 70-piece symphonic band and a 200 strong voiced choir in a world class concert hall. Not to mention the fact that I love the music from the Prince of Egypt (same composer who gave us "Wicked").

The version we're doing with the GMCW is more faithful to the movie version than Mariah Carey's. That version follows.

From Dan: He Won!

Dan Kaufman, owner of DKG, has won a "redate" with some lucky guy, courtesy of the Washington Post. Here's Dan:

Thanks to everyone who voted for me, and especially to Scott for posting this on his blog (3 entries! I'm honored! :-)

So, I won! I am the top male vote-getter, so the Gay Men's Chorus gets a nice $500 donation courtesy of the Washington Post, and I get another date, also courtesy of the Washington Post.

Keep an eye out for the results in the February 11th edition of the Washington Post Sunday Magazine.

Maybe Dan will give us "inside" scoop after the Post publishes the story.

This has been fun, thanks to everyone who voted for Dan and thanks to Dan for playing along.

Send Dan on a Re-Date to help the Gay Men's Chorus

This is Dan Kaufman, a friend of a friend.

The Washington Post, says Dan, "sent me and Robert Falk on a blind date back in October, and they interviewed us and wrote about it in the Sunday Magazine a few weeks ago. The date was nice, and Robert and I got along great--there just wasn't any romantic interest."

And Now:

"they asked me back, with a twist. Instead of a completely blind date, if I'm chosen as the guy who gets to go out on a second date, I'll get to choose from 3 candi-dates. But more important than that is the fact that, if I'm the top male vote-getter, they'll donate $500 to my favorite local charity. I chose the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, as I've been a member of this amazing group for 16 years and I think the mission of the group is spot-on: "To entertain through excellent musical performance, to affirm the place of Gay people in society, and to educate about the Gay experience."

You don't have to date him (though you can apply for that with the Post if you wish), all you have to do is vote for him, by clicking here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/datelab/redate/index.html

The friend who sent this to me notes Dan was also active with the local Names Project (AIDS Memorial Quilt) here in DC.