Songs of My Family

I'm still riding a little bit of a high from playing at the Kennedy Center this weekend. It was an unbelievable experience to be on the stage (front row) and playing for 1600 people. The audience was extremely receptive to the selections we played with and without the chorus. The Capitol Pride Symphonic Band received a lot of great compliments.

We even got a nod in the 6/26 Washington Post. The review is probably accurate for both groups. And hey, we're a non-auditioning community band and not paid members of the National Symphony Orchestra (even though we used their green room and sat in their chairs)! So to be recognized for our enthusiasm is a great reward, as was the heartfelt camaraderie between the two ensembles.


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Gay Men's Chorus

The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington presented the world premiere of its latest commission, "This House Shall Stand: Songs of My Family," on Sunday afternoon at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. GMCW Artistic Director Jeff Buhrman conceived the work as a way to explore relationships in gay and lesbian families, and the chorus set up an online questionnaire to solicit stories. Composer Robert Seeley and lyricist Robert Espindola then turned the stories into a cycle of 13 songs for chorus, soloists and chamber orchestra.

Espindola's texts capture real emotion, despite some grammatical gaffes that one hopes will be removed before future performances. The stories provided ample material for Seeley, whose score for "This House Shall Stand" sits solidly in the musical-theater tradition, with uncomplicated textures, catchy tunes and sweeping balladry. The resulting work contains some vivid and affecting vignettes: "At the Window," for example, pairs a heartbreaking tale of a gay man unable to visit his hospitalized partner with an equally moving melody.

Under Buhrman, the chorus sang with crisp ensemble and unmistakable passion throughout. The anthemic number "This House Shall Stand" made a rousing finale.

The concert opened with selections by a symphonic ensemble from D.C.'s Different Drummers, which played under Artistic Director K. Scott Barker with an enthusiasm that provided some compensation for a general lack of polish. The ensemble sounded best in its two most appealing works: Gustav Holst's delightful First Suite for Band and Frank Ticheli's "An American Elegy," whose ruminative harmonies memorialize the victims of the Columbine High School shooting.