Steve Lloyd, Recent Past President of the Board, Larry Jackson, Artistic Director and Tommy Waltz, Current President of the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus at This Evening’s Dress Rehersal. This Year’s Concert Will be Director Jackson’s Last Because he is Retiring After 8 Yesrs as Director of the Chorus.
Some Members of the 35 Member Maine Gay Men’s Chorus at a Dress Rehersal This Evening in Portland.
The 2023 Holiday Season doesn’t begin until you have heard the Sparkle-Jingle concert at one of the three concerts of the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus this weekend at South Portland High School. The music, the choreography, the chuckles, the discipline, the kindness and the surprises will inspire you through the holidays and into next year as this blogger knows first hand. These elements all come together wrapped up in one big package with a big red bow affiixed atop it all.
One of the surprises that will have an impact on the Chorus is the upcoming retirement of Artistic Director Larry Jackson. His retirement follows an eight year run with the thirty year plus Chorus. During his tenure, it has won the hearts and respect of Maine choral music lovers up and down the state. Jackson will be retiring from his position as a music teacher with the Falmouth Public Schools. From Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Jackson earned a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and his master’s degree in Music from the University of Southern Oregon, Ashland.
Some of the music will make you want to sing along with the Chorus which you are invited to do. Unfortunately, this blogger was unfamiliar with the sing along music and so could not join in on the fun.
Some of the music will make you snap your fingers in time with the music and other music will evoke a more emotional reaction to it. This blogger would have liked more variety in the selections and a less homogenized concert than it was. Some Sparkle in the Jingle was missing from the holiday musical selections. This year there are no professional soloists as in past years. Perhaps this omission would have given the concert the variety it lacked. But the best way to experience the whole package is by attending one of the three concerts this weekend at the South Portland HIgh School – this weekend only.
The first of the three concerts is slated for Friday, December 8th, at 7:30 pm.; Sunday, December 9th at 7:30 pm.; and the third and final concert is Sunday, December 10th, at 2:30 pm. South Portland High School is located at 617 Highland Avenue. Tickets are $20. when purhased online or for $25. at the door.
In a moment of reflection, Artistic Director Jackson said what he will miss most about his retirement are the people at the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus. “I can come to a rehersal in not the best of moods. But after being with this group for a while, that mood is much better.” As he told the 35 members of the Chorus during an intermission in the program, “I’m always so proud to stand in front of you.” That feeling is clearly mutual.
For information on last year’s first concert following a pause because of the pandemic, please visi post herein dated December 11, 2022. Visit the non-profit’s web page: www.mainegaymenschorus.com