Prior to last night, I could not say I was a fan of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus (NYCGMC), for the very simple reason that I had never heard them. On June 4, NYGMC got a new fan.

This year's LGBT Pride concert, "Vibrate," celebrated the end of a vibrant 28th season for a chorus that grew out of two community choruses, joining forces in the immediately pre-Reagan days of 1980. At "Vibrate," members as newly minted as five weeks and as long in tenure as 28 years introduced the sections of the concert in a very personal and compelling fashion. Yes, "fashion," as in this year's concert was held at Haft Auditorium at Fashion Institute of Technology, on 27th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

backstage .with Our LadyJ (aka Jonnah Speidel), Charles Beale & NYCGMC members - photo b yH.E. Yhoman

First among my impressions of the evening was that the NYGMC began their concert spot-on on time!--fairly uncommon in my experience, refreshing and very respectful of the audience. Initially, though, the climate control in the auditorium left much to be desired. The costuming for the chorus was simple blue jeans and white shirt for the first act and, very shortly, both NYCGMC Music Director Charles Beale's and many of his singers' shirts were soaked. We were in dim darkness, after all, but those poor souls were under hot stage lights! For the first act, each singer had a silver band tied to his left arm. Frankly, I find it hard to believe, if I invoke the infamous Hanky Code, that all of these talented men are 'tops.' The band was switched to the 'bottom' side for the second act.

"Vibrate" comprised a mélange of musical styles, eras, composers, languages and emotions. Among the first pieces was a juxtaposition of "Feeling Good," from "The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd," with Chic's "Everybody Dance." This was a great pairing to get audience focus into the room and to get our attention.

Next we had a pair of pieces by Latvian composer Emils Darzins and a commissioned piece by Gwyneth Walker on the theme of "peace." These purely choral, classic canon pieces were well orchestrated in timbre and volume. The specially commissioned Walker piece had an open sound, typically American to me, that also brought to mind Liz Story's piano work and some of the Moody Blues' Justin Hayward's work, very pensive, with open chords, and beautiful.

Dear NYCGMC Publisher of Programs-I know you are trying to keep the number of pages a) to a minimum and b) in multiples of four. As someone who is a bit over 40, and quite a bit under 50, I would ask you, please, to use something larger than six point type. These works are magnificent and the information about them would benefit by being more legible.

The concert featured an interesting range of eclectic pieces ranging from jazz to the standard vocal choral canon arrangements to a beautiful rendition of Orlando Gibbons' "The Silver Swan," who apocryphally sings only immediately prior to its death. This piece introduced one of the newest of the subgroups of the chorus, the Consort of Voices, who will be advertising its own maiden voyage very soon. No details were available yet on the Consort's performances, but you'll want to keep a Google search out for them, as the singers are very accomplished.

The high point for me was the arc of work by Rufus Wainwright. I found the pieces contemporary and choral at the same time, really inspiring and thought provoking concerning the journey we make toward understanding whom and whatever we are.

After intermission, the Youth Pride Chorus brought tears to the eyes of many of us in the auditorium. Its members' energy, talent, and fresh hopefulness made me proud and happy, even as a newcomer to their work. It may be trite, but I kept thinking, we've made the future that this generation will carry forward-and I think we're in good hands!

The ShowQueens, another NYCGMC ensemble, did "Doors"-reminiscent, in its tight harmonies and wee bit of choreography, of the Motown days, or perhaps I should say "Gotham-town".

The Revival arc was moving and a fitting entrance into summer. Struggles of South Africa mirror those we have here in the United States and the music was well sung, but better felt, lingering long after the final notes were sung.

Our Lady J, aka Jonnah Speidel, was featured with the chorus in two of her compositions, in lush arrangements that provided a Greek Chorus, background susurration, and poignancy to her words. Her clear voice in the solos presented a vivid contrast to the wall of sound surrounding her.

The "I Believe" piece was perfect in punching up the energy in the room. Inspiring and spiritual, yet contemplative as well, it also made an interesting emotion change--and represented the calm before the storm of the finale.

Beale's arrangement for the finale was a fun and breathtaking romp called "Wind It Up." This amazing finale showed that singing together makes coordinated movement a snap! Some of it was dancing, but other movement bore only a passing resemblance to it--think of the differences between singing and tuned speech, and you may have an idea what I mean. The finale was energizing and the perfect way to turn the audience loose into the glories of Pride month. Many wonderful moments were present in this Pride month concert. We were all vibrating as we left the Haft Auditorium.