A sea of singers streamed into downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday for GALA Choruses Festival 2024, a 5-day North American LGBTQ choral festival encompassing over 200 concerts and 7,000 voices. Normally taking place every four years, the festival last happened in Denver in 2016. Festival 2020, scheduled to take place in Minneapolis,  was canceled due to COVID-19.

The first big sing-along event, “Rise Up Singing, Together Again,” got moved from Peavey Plaza to the Minneapolis Convention Center because of the rain. There, thousands of singers filled up the MCC’s auditorium.

Jane Ramseyer Miller, artistic director of GALA — and former artistic director for One Voice Mixed Chorus — led the first song, “On The Day We Are Together Again,” by Humbird (the moniker for Minnesota singer-songwriter Siri Undlin). Set to the African American spiritual, “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?” Undlin first performed the song on Youtube in 2020, with lyrics that expressed hope for gathering again. Undlin’s recently updated lyrics speak of gathering together in the present tense, remembering loved ones who have passed.

The San Diego Women’s Chorus performs at Gala Chorus 2016 in Denver. The group will perform as part of the GALA Choruses Festival 2024, a quadrennial event that gathers some 7,000 singers from 122 LGBTQ+ choruses in Minneapolis July 10-14, 2024. (Josh Gold / GALA Choruses)

After teaching the melody, Ramseyer Miller and the GALA team went about teaching the harmonies to the audience full of singers. Aiding that task were the Multae Voces, one of eight “festival choruses” formed during the GALA week. The choir had just two rehearsals on Wednesday before performing at 5:30, and demonstrated the different harmonies.

“Here’s the deal,” Ramseyer Miller told the audience. “Pick a part, any part. Harmony is any note your neighbor’s not singing.”

After that, Trans Chorus of Los Angeles Artistic Director Abdullah Rasheen Hall, dressed in ruby slippers, led the room in a joyful rendition of “Everybody Rejoice” from “The Wiz.”

After the sing-along, many in the audience walked the several blocks from MCC to Orchestra Hall for “Mní Sóta Sings – Minnesota Welcome Concert,” featuring three Twin Cities choirs: Calliope Women’s Chorus, Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus, and One Voice Mixed Chorus.

The concert began with a grand procession from the back of the hall, with the performers singing and waving purple ribbons. Minnesota puppet artist Sandy Spieler processed in with the singers, leading behind her a giant blue puppet operated by multiple puppeteers.

The Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus performs at Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis in March, 2024. The group will perform as part of the GALA Choruses Festival 2024, a quadrennial event that gathers some 7,000 singers from 122 LGBTQ+ choruses in Minneapolis July 10-14, 2024. (Lou R.R. Zurn / GALA Choruses)

The Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus’ rendition of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Modern Major-General’s Song” with LGBTQ-themed lyrics was a hoot, and their fan props and choreography gave the number a nice flourish. Calliope, meanwhile, shined with its quietly intense rendition of “The Earth, The Air, The Fire, The Water,” a Pagan chant set to music by the feminist music group Libana. Besides One Voice Mixed Choir’s repertoire, director Kimberly Waigwa also led the audience in a song, revealing her own lovely voice in the process.

The concert centered around Minnesota’s land and people. A video featuring Native American artist and activist Sharon Day set the scene, and a poem by Minneapolis City Council President and poet Andrea Jenkins evoked imagery of the Minneapolis lake Bde Maka Ska. Jenkins’ piece also referenced the music of Prince in personal, reflective lyricism.

Prince got another nod when singer Roland Hawkins sang a gospel-infused interpretation of “Purple Rain.” Leading all three choirs in the spiritual “This River,” by Uzee Brown, Jr, he and the singers were joined by a menagerie of animal puppets that came on to the stage.

For the grand finale, a drag performer and three dancers in sparkly costumes performed with the choral groups for an up-beat medley. The event proved a high energy opening to the festival, which continues through Sunday.

GALA Choruses Festival 2024

When: All day/evening Friday, July 12, Saturday, July 13 & Sunday, July 14

Where: Various locations in downtown Minneapolis

Tickets: $30 per concert, free for children under 12 accompanied by an adult. Free admission to the “Choral Carnival” at various locations Friday evening.

Capsule: LGBTQ singers from across North America and beyond celebrate community, song and pride in an Olympian-scale gathering.

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