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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2008)
42iiustiout^.y NOVEMBER 21, 2008 music Harmony Amid Sour Notes Women's music, gay choruses raise spirits during tough times • by Pat Young here they were, on staff who knew about women composers,” says the cover of the first Aspen. “So that was very gratifying to feel like we issue of Just Out, The Dyketones! had brought some consciousness and acceptance wearing of women in music to a very traditional and schol A group of lesbians butch/femme attire acting politically 639 SE Morrison Happy Hour Menu Served ALL NICHT on Tuesdays! 1/2 off bottle of wine Mondays & Tuesdays (w/ entree) Live Music & Jazz Thursdays’ Spanish Inspired Fare, Small Plates. Menus & music schedule available at: www.themaidenpdx.com "¿¿"503.223.2182 - -<www.beauthai.com 11 Id Open: Mon-Sat, 4-lam Happy Hour: 4-6pm Parking available in the Oregon Ballet Parking Lot,directly across Morrison St. arly field.” incorrect. What started as a lark was such a hit By the time the Portland Lesbian Choir that the group performed for several years. It was formed in 1986, the queer community in Portland definitely a break from the seriousness and hard was in full swing. Still, it wasn’t easy for folks to work that women had been doing in the 1970s to be “out,” so it was a serious decision for the choir create a space for women’s music. to include the word “lesbian” in its name. Some Women’s music emerged in the 1970s with of the women who attended early meetings quit the help of Olivia Records and women’s music when the final name was chosen because they did festivals. It was a time when women could start to not feel comfortable being out. Being inclusive think of themselves as musicians as they created has been—and still is—a cornerstone of the or and performed their own music. Oregon has a rich ganization’s philosophy. It is a nonaudition choir history in women’s music. Groups that formed in open to all women. the 1970s and early ’80s include the Ursa Minor The choir is community. It is family. It is a safe Choir, Izquierda Ensemble, Baba Yaga, Mercy, place for women to come out, socialize and enjoy Motherlode, Musica Femina and, in 1986, the music. It has performed for a variety of causes. It Portland Lesbian Choir. has also been active in protesting the anti-gay bal lot measures that have been such a part of Oregon’s political scene. “We’ve been going since 1986, and we’ll be going for quite a while longer,” longtime member Sparky Lindsay says. “For the last few years, we have kind of called informally ourselves ‘PLC the Next Generation’ because we have a new generation of PGMC performs at the 1984 inauguration of Oregon Secretary of State Barbara Roberts. singers who have joined us. “We * have a “I think all of the work that we did in those wide range of people from novices to some very early years that was identified as women’s music or skilled singers, and we have a lovely sound. We feminist music opened the way for other artists,” still have the politics of the ’70s. No one is ever says Kristan Aspen, who was a member of several turned away from a PLC concert for lack of funds. of those groups, including The Dyketones. Pay what you can. We really just want people to Musica Femina is an example of opening come and have a great time.” doors and making a dent in rhe established mu The Portland Gay Men’s Chorus also has members sic industry. From 1984 to 1996, Aspen and her of the next generation. When co-founder Steve partner, Janna MacAuslan, toured the country as Fulmer realized that a new member was so young he a flute-guitar duo. Musica Femina performed clas had been bom after PGMC’s founding, he cried. sical music by women composers. At first it was a challenge for them to find enough material for a “It was like, oh my Gtxl, it is the new genera tion. They are here!” says Fulmer. concert: The music was there, but it just needed PGMC, which has 135 members, started in someone to discover it. MacAuslan and Aspen 1980. Fulmer and Gary Coleman have been with uncovered the music and shared it with music de the chorus from the beginning. They have told partments in numerous colleges. After 12 years, it the story of PGMC so many times that they seam was time to stop touring. lessly move from memory to memory. “By then, many campuses had an expert on On Coleman’s wrist, you’ll find a bracelet
