Music / Creative Lockdown
Creative lockdown: Bristol Gay Men’s Chorus
Bristol Gay Men’s Chorus are part of the ongoing Bristol24/7 Creative Lockdown series, showcasing how people in Bristol have been getting arty under lockdown.
Founded by members of Sing Out Bristol, the city’s queer community choir, Bristol Gay Men’s Chorus is for specifically the gay male community in the city.
The group started informally in October 2019, and the six founding members discovered that there was a real need for a safe singing space for gay men in Bristol, and was officially launched in January 2020.
is needed now More than ever
The choir bases itself off the gay men’s choruses that have come before them. The first gay men’s choirs started in San Francisco and Los Angeles, before spreading across the world, with London Gay Men’s Chorus starting in 1991, and the movement spreading across the UK – there are now choirs in Brighton and Edinburgh as well.
Since lockdown began, Bristol Gay Men’s Chorus, like many local choirs, has moved online and has recently released their first virtual rendition: a cover of Don’t Worry About Me by Frances.
“We kicked the new choir off in January this year and we were just starting to find our feet musically when the lockdown happened, so we stopped meeting for rehearsals. However, we decided to keep things going virtually and asked the guys to record themselves singing this favourite from the new songs we’d been working on,” says Ronan de Burca, managing director of Sing Out and music director for Bristol Gay Men’s Chorus.
“We’re thrilled with the results, we’ve never performed anywhere and had barely learnt the song! With the lockdown continuing we might pick another song to record, it’s a fantastic way to keep in touch with everyone and make sure we’re all doing okay.”
https://www.facebook.com/bristolgaymenschorus/videos/235374667578679/?vh=e&d=n
To find out more, go to www.bristolgaymenschorus.org
To share your work, email lowie@bristol247.com with a bit of information about you and how you created your masterpiece.
Main image: From Bristol Gay Men’s Chorus’ video
Read more: A performance choir for Bristol’s gay men
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