“Many of us, as gays and lesbians, have had the experience of being excluded at some point in our lives. Coming together to sing together is a rich experience” David Reeves, Co-Chair of the Auckland Gay and Lesbian Singers .
Out and Loud Choral Festival 2010.Massed Choir in the Auckland Town Hall. Photo: Supplied; GALS
Two hundred gay, lesbian and transgender singers from Australia and New Zealand get together to be “out and loud” in Auckland.
They’re here for the “Out and Loud” Choral Festival, a long weekend of singing workshops and performances, running alongside Auckland’s Gay Pride Festival.
The event is hosted by New Zealand’s longest running gay choir, Auckland’s Gay and Lesbian Singers, or GALS, now almost 25-years old.
GALS rehearsing for Out and Loud Photo: RNZ David Steemson
Over the three days participants will take part in singing workshops and then a gala concert on Saturday afternoon.
The singers will also give pop-up performances in downtown Auckland on Friday afternoon.
Co-Chair of Auckland GALS David Reeves says the mass choir singing on Saturday will be a first for some of the singers taking part . He says it can be an exhilarating experience as he discovered when he first sang in a mass choir at the Gay Games in Chicago in 2006.
“You’re buoyed along by the event and you find your singing goes to a higher level”.
Once the “Out and Loud” Festival finishes, the Choral Director of Auckland GALS Stephen Bowness is stepping down after 15-years.
He says the life of gay and lesbian and transgender people in New Zealand is getting better, but there’s a long way to go before there is complete acceptance. In Australia he says the community still has to battle to get marriage equality and some of the other rights that in New Zealand ”we take for granted”.
Photo: Supplied; GALS
