Vocal Minority Sings Out Across Vermont

      The hills of Vermont are again alive with the sound of music. No, the Trapp Family Singers have not begun a reunion tour. Rather, Vermont’s gay men’s chorus, A Vocal Minority, recently completed a statewide concert series with performances in Hartland, St. Johnsbury and Montpelier.
      Established in 1998, A Vocal Minority is the brainchild of Tim Menk, Rob Larabee, and Yves Morrissette, who set up a table at Vermont Pride Day to recruit members. The nonprofit organization’s articles of incorporation say the group was established “for the education, enjoyment, and cultural enrichment of its members and audiences, the Corporation seeks to foster gay community spirit and pride and to present a positive gay image to the community at large.”
      According to chorus director Tim Tavcar, A Vocal Minority was formed to create beautiful music and to provide an alternative social opportunity for gay men in Vermont. From an educational standpoint, Tavcar wants the 12-member group to put a face on the gay community. “We usually do two formal series of concerts late fall and late spring in three different locations,” he told OITM. “Our membership centers around the Montpelier and St. Johnsbury areas so we usually perform there. Other places have included Burlington, Hartland Four Corners, Cambridge and Lebanon NH.
      “We often perform as a group or a smaller ensemble for things like PRIDE fundraisers, services of remembrance for those lost to AIDS, [for] civil unions, and benefits for other social service organizations such as Habitat for Humanity,” Tavcar added. “We have also been invited to perform twice for the Farmers Night Concert Series at our Statehouse. This past February we did an entire concert of gay composers and poets in the House chamber, which raised more than a few eyebrows.”
      Chorus member Bill Pelton of Montpelier told OITM he joined A Vocal Minority because of his love for music and for the opportunity to socialize. “I’ve sung off and on for a decade and missed being part of some kind of a choral group,” he said. “It can also be challenging for gay men to make contact with other gay men, and it is really nice to have some kind of a common interest to focus around.”
      While one might expect a gay men’s chorus to perform Broadway show tunes, A Vocal Minority’s recent concert at the Unitarian Church in Montpelier included 16 classical and medieval works like Music of the Ages by Keith Christopher, Fa Una Canzona by Orazio Vecchi, and Dreams by Langston Hughes. “We try to do a big range,” Tavcar said of the group’s performance. “The music selection is actually dependent on who I’ve got in the chorus at any given point in time. We’ve done a lot of Sondheim in the past and some stuff from Phantom of the Opera and Sweeney Todd. We try to perform gay composers. I want to make sure that our own community is represented.”
      Later this year, A Vocal Minority plans to release its first compact disk, tentatively titled Music of the Ages.

Paul Olsen lives in Colchester and also writes for In Newsweekly.