aprii 7. 2000 ’ MUSIC ...............▼............... K, they don’t really get naked, but I want­ ed to be sure you’d read this article. If you’ve never heard the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, run— do not walk— to rtland Community College’s Sylvania cam- on the weekend of April 14 through 16 d hear for yourself the group’s performance of illennium M osaic and Naked Man. First, you’ve got to understand that I’m not fan of choral music at all. I’ve always found it rribly precious and twee— y’know, all that or unto us a child is bo-ho-ho-hom ” and fa- -la-la-la-la business. S o imagine my surprise hen I attended an early rehearsal and more an once found myself moved to tears. If xi’re anything like me (and since you’re read- g this paper, you are, Blanche, you are), you having a good cry. Let me give you some background. The first If of the concert features the world premiere f Millennium M osaic, which its creators believe the world’s first song cycle based on the lives nd perspectives of gay and lesbian youths, oets and partners Janice Gould and Marie- lise Wheatwind collaborated in compiling the ords, images and ideas of local gay and lesbian ouths to create a collection of verse— no easy ’sk, I might add. But Gould and Wheatwind Dund ample inspiration in the person of one ery inspiring 15-year-old lesbian, Kat Wilson. Wilson stands maybe 5 feet tall and is prob- bly 90 pounds with her boots on. She appears n every way to be a thoroughly typical teen- ger, popping her gum and pushing her hair ’hind her ears. Yet this is a teen-ager who, hen asked how she knows for certain she’s ay, looks at me like it’s a dumb question which it is) and says quietly, “How do you now your eyes are blue? How do you know our hair is brown?” Wilson’s poems provide the cornerstones of he piece, bracketing the other half-dozen ;ms by Wheatwind and Gould. In Cold tone, Wilson writes: “I am tired of waiting and atching / and pushing on bound’ries without eaning. . . / I a m pounding against a cold tone wall, / I am crying against its smooth- ess. For anyone in the chorus over 30, it’s diffi- ult to imagine the opportunities that today’s :xual minority youths (or “gaylings” as I prefer o call them) have to express themselves pub­ ic ly. Bob Mensel, a conductor and the chorus’s rtistic director, is fervent in his commitment to this groundbreaking project. W hen asked if e’s prepared for accusations that the chorus is “recruiting” gay youth, Mensel becomes fierce. “We will never be able to mentor gay and lesbian youth if we are controlled by the rhetoric of recruitment,” he says. “But we know Portland Gay Men's Chorus to get Naked Fearless chorus lets it all hang out in Mille n n iu m Mosaic and Naked Man by M arc A cito From left: Mosaic makers Janice Gould, David York and Marie-Elise Wheatwind better, so let’s not buy into that. We’re pre­ pared to take the flak.” He need not worry about flak as far as W il­ son’s remarkable parents are concerned. When I asked Paul Wilson, Kat’s father, how he felt about his daughter taking part in such a public event, he simply smiled and said, “I’m just excited for her to have had a tutorial with two poets and a composer.” That’s it. This is how far we’ve come. (With two gay nephews, one gay niece and one niece on her way to becoming a nephew, Wilson was as equipped as anyone possibly could be for his daughter’s coming out, I suppose, but his mat- ter-of-factness staggered me.) As Barney Frank said recently at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner: “Face it, folks, we’re not exotic any­ more.” I don’t think I can adequately describe how enormously moving it was to see 90 full-grown gay men stand and applaud this one brave young girl. I get choked up just thinking about it and will remember always the beaming face of Linda Farris, Kat Wilson’s mother, tears shining in her eyes as she heard for the first time her daughter’s words put to music: I will says these words as many times as a cloud cries on a rainy day. I will bare my heart until your face shines beams o f light through these dark gray skies. Truth under my wings, liftin’ me up! I am flying, I am breaking free. I am free! Could you in a million years imagine your parents crying tears of joy at the public expres­ sion of your sexuality when you were 15? Think about it. Where were you back in the days when field hockey or the drama club was your only opportunity to be authentic with yourself? Millennium M osaic composer David York relates that he “dated a ‘good girl,’ so I didn’t have to ...”— he glances at the minor present in the room— “well, y’know, do the things that straight boys had to do.” Poets Gould and Wheatwind were angry and anorexic, respectively. And Bob Mensel says he worked as a tour guide at the Mormon Temple in Washington, D.C., which is a scream for anyone who knows him— “And over here we have a fabulous diorama of Brigham Young...’’ T he second piece on the program,- N aked M an, picks up where the other leaves off, inspired as it was by the lives of the men of the San Francisco Gay M en’s Chorus. The music reflects the change: Whereas Millennium Mosaic is, in the words of its composer, “unapolo- getically pop,” N aked Man is more clas­ sical— “like easy Brahms,” says Mensel. Yet the influences range from Gregorian chant to show tunes; in short, some­ thing for everyone. The connections among the singers and the music and words are palpable and real and powerful. Everything I usu­ ally hate about choral singing— the excessive restraint and fussy precision— is completely absent in the PGM C’s full-on, open-throated sound. The singers’ vigor and virility match N aked Man’s theme perfectly: “W hen I am dressed up, / Disguised and masked, / I am a sham, / All I want to be / Is that I am, / A naked man.” These “naked men” proudly give new meaning to the term “singing out.” I’ve heard people say time and again, “Where is the gay community— we’re so divid­ ed, blah, blah, blah, b la h ...” I’ll tell you where the gay community is. It is in the strong, virile voices of 90 out and proud men; it is in the sumptuous music of a gay composer; it is in the affecting poetry of a lesbian couple; and it is in the hauntingly sim­ ple words of one brave 15-year-old girl. ■ The P o r tla n d G ay M en ’ s C h o r u s performs Millennium Mosaic and Naked Man at 8 p.m . April 14 and 15 and at 7 p.m . April 16 at the Performing Arts C enter on the Sylvania campus o f Portland Community C ollege. Tickets cost $12 to $20 and are available from Fastixx. M ore infor- motion can be found online at www.pdxgmc.org. M arc A c ito wanted to be on Broadway when he was 15 years old. Somehow he ended up owning a Fastsigns store in Tigard and drawing the comic strip ‘‘The Boys Next Door. ” th e lo w e s t p r ic e s o u r m o m s a re v e r y p r o u d o f us. Buy. s e l l a n d t r a d e CD’s, v id e o s , D V D ’s, l a s e r d i s c s an d r e c o r d s H u n d r e d * o f n e w t i t l e s a r r i v i n g da i l y . C h e c k o u t o u r g l o b a l i n v e n t o r y of u s e d a n d n e w C D s , V i d e o s a n d D V D s at W W W . d j a n g O S . c o m ► i m Sout hwest Stark (1 bl ock south of Powel ls) t 503 227 4381