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The sounds of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” echoed through the halls of the Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Nob Hill last Tuesday.
The church wasn’t being overrun with zombies — the New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus was rehearsing for its Halloween Cabaret in October.
The New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus is composed of more than 50 gay singers and one straight singer — the group doesn’t discriminate.
The chorus performs four shows a year, with a music selection that ranges from pop to Broadway show tunes and even classical music.
“I find that the more pop music, the more fun music, the songs that maybe people know a little more, are the most popular,” said artistic director Aaron Howe. “We’re doing ‘Creep’ by Radiohead, a song from Shrek, ‘O Fortuna’ and ‘Thriller.’ They’re not necessarily songs you would think of a gay chorus doing, but they are familiar nonetheless.”
Howe, who chooses the music for every concert, said he picks music based on his personal reaction to it.
“I find it very alluring to do music that most people would think of as a man singing about a woman, but we change it to be a man singing about a man,” he said. “To me that’s very meaningful, especially for guys that were in the closet for a long time, and to sing the music that they want to sing, but they sing it in exactly the way they want to sing it and to who they want to sing it to.”
Many of the men described the group as a family. In the back row of rehearsal, a man in a pink polo shirt fed his friend an animal cracker with his teeth.
“It’s just a different group of guys probably than you would ever meet, and they’re all really cool; we’re almost like a family,” chorus member Ryan Harris said. “Except this b****, I hate her,” he said gesturing to his friend.
Harris said he first joined the chorus because he was previously involved with theater.
“I stage-managed some shows that he (Howe) was the music director for, so we had a personal relationship,” he said. “I mean, not too personal. He’s not my type. I don’t have time to do theater or anything like that, so I wanted to perform still, so it’s the perfect fit.”
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UNM student Ryan Moore said he originally joined the chorus to become a better karaoke singer, and then his interest was piqued.
“I thought karaoke might be something I wanted to continue doing without sounding bad, so I went and asked my friend how I could improve, and he said ‘join a chorus,’” Moore said. “It’s helped immensely. Singing isn’t a hobby anymore; it’s a passion.”
Howe said singing is a natural human expression that everybody should participate in.
“Everybody should sing,” Howe said. “Not everybody should be in choir, not everyone should be singing in front of people, definitely not everyone should be given a microphone. But everyone should sing because everyone wants to. There are very few people, I think, in this world, who don’t feel the impulse to sing.”
Howe said the church the chorus rehearses in is gay friendly, although the Presbyterian denomination has not come out in support of gay marriage. Howe said some of the chorus members’ families do not accept their homosexuality, but sometimes families change their minds once they see the chorus perform.
“I would love to hear more stories like that, I would love my family to change their ways of thinking, too, but a lot of guys come from Christian families, so there’s a lot of animosity toward the Christian church and you see it playing out in politics today,” he said.
New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus
Halloween Cabaret
Oct. 19 and 20, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 21, 3 p.m.
Effex Nightclub
420 Central Ave. S.E.
Students and seniors $15, general admission $20
