Singing out to give out
For nearly four decades the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. has raised its voice for equality.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. was founded in 1981 and has spent the last 39 years raising its voice for equality. Launched by the late Bob Wonneberger and his partner Stanley Allen, it is a musical home for more than 300 singers.
The Gay Men’s Chorus performs at the Kennedy Center. Courtesy photo.
Kerry Harrison, a 10-year member of the chorus, says “This has been my family for so many years. We do so much outreach for the community, and we love giving back by raising our voices. Our big gay voices!”
The group shares its time and talents to enlighten and enrich the lives of others. Examples of GMCW’s community outreach include providing free tickets to performances to people living with HIV/AIDS and providing volunteers to help provide meals to people in need.
In addition, the GMCW hosts an annual toy drive during the holidays to provide new toys for under-privileged children through Community Family Life Services. The group also lifts its collective voice at a variety of events in support of organizations including Human Rights Campaign, the Whitman-Walker Clinic, the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, the Mautner Project, PFLAG-DC, and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
High profile performances include the annual Capital Pride Festival and annual MLK, Jr. Celebration (co-sponsored by the GLBT Arts Consortium of Washington and Capital Pride).
Since 2006, GMCW has also sung the national anthem as part of Team D.C.’s Night Out at the Nationals. Team D.C. educates the GLBT community about the benefits of individual and team sports participation.
The Chorus and its select ensembles kept a very busy schedule in the 2019-2020 season, with more than 125 outreach performances in the region and almost 5,000 volunteer outreach hours. Recent outreach performances have included the HRC National Dinner, National Institutes of Health, Whitman Walker Health, SMYAL, D.C .Flag Football, Valley AIDS Network, Luray Caverns, the National Transgender March for Visibility, and Washington National Cathedral.
“This family of singers has saved my life. And in turn, I want to give back as much as I can to the Washington, D.C. community,” Harrison says.
