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
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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