Gay Today: World

Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles
to Sing in Russia

Compiled by GayToday

The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles, here with Rep. Barney Frank, will perform in Eastern Europe next month

Los Angeles, California--The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles will embark on an historic and ground- breaking tour to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Tallinn (Estonia) and Berlin from October 6 to 19, 1999. The proceeds from these concerts benefit local human rights and AIDS organizations in the various countries.

In Russia and Estonia, GMCLA's visit marks the first major public appearance by a gay organization. The tour as a whole reflects the Chorus' mission to present positive images of gay men and to build bridges of understanding to the larger public.

"We are honored, excited and daunted by what this historic tour holds in store for us," says artistic director, Jon Bailey. "We have accomplished so much locally, but this tour presents many new and interesting challenges."

In Moscow the Chorus performs at the legendary Tchaikovsky Hall on October 9th. At this concert, the Chorus will be joined by Russian recording star, Ms. Alla Pugachova, whose last Los Angeles appearance was at the Universal Amphitheatre.

The next stop, St. Petersburg, the Chorus performs at the Glinka Kapella. On October 14th, the Chorus performs in Helsinki at the Hall of Culture to benefit the Finnish AIDS Council. The Estonian National Concert Hall will host the Chorus on October 16th.

The final performance of the tour is on October 18th, when the group has the honor of performing at the Kammermusiksaal, the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic. All of the concerts feature a repertoire of classic European and American choral literature, followed by Broadway and Hollywood film selections.

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Related Sites:
Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles

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This will be the second international tour for GMCLA. The Chorus's last trip in 1991 was the subject of an award- winning documentary entitled "out Loud" which aired on over 20 PBS stations. This tour will be filmed by Unity International, a documentary film company, for release prior to the Chorus' annual Christmas concerts at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.