Alexandria Harmonizers will include “I Am Harvey Milk” in fall concert
The Alexandria Harmonizers showcase recent pro-gay work in their upcoming fall concert
“We are quite proud of the fact that we were the first non all-gay chorus chosen to perform I Am Harvey Milk,” says Scipio Garling of the Alexandria Harmonizers, who performed Andrew Lippa’s oratorio about the slain gay rights pioneer earlier this year. “That is revolutionary in itself: The idea that art made by, for and about the gay community doesn’t have to simply remain there. It can be enjoyed and performed by everyone, for everyone.”
Not everyone was able to see their performance with the National Philharmonic at Strathmore, however, so the Harmonizers will offer excerpts of the work as part of a fall “Revolution” concert, packaged with songs by The Beatles.
“The Beatles helped provide a musical context for a time of social transition,” says Garling. The concert will feature early Beatles tunes focused on tight harmonies as well as later, more experimental songs, including “St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Hey Jude.” Garling sees a similarity between the fab four’s evolving pop trajectory and that of the Harmonizers, founded in 1948. “Despite our very strong grounding in four-part a cappella and barbershop, the chorus, particularly in recent years, has also been broadening what it does and including different styles.”
Over the summer, the Harmonizers performed excerpts from Harvey Milk as part of a master class during the Barbershop Harmony Society’s annual convention in Nashville — another small but sure way the group is helping nudge this tradition-minded movement on gay issues. The Harmonizers also increasingly perform at gay events, such as during a wedding ceremony for Marriott International during the 2014 Capital Pride Parade.
“All of this is to make us more part of our surrounding communities,” Garling says, “and to help us be a regular and reliable source to them for all sorts of entertainment — familiar as well as innovative music, popular but still cutting edge like contemporary a cappella. We want to be able to do all of those things for our audiences.”
Revolution: A Musical Celebration of the Art of Change is Saturday, Oct. 15, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall at Northern Virginia Community College, 3001 North Beauregard St., Alexandria. Tickets are $32 to $75. Call 703-548-0885 or visit alexsym.org.
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