With a city the size of Atlanta, it's shocking in recent years to see this group shrink in size under the current leadership. Something has happened to this
group in recent years. The sound is clean but without passion. They used to have a huge wall of sound that the unveiled each concert at key moments that made your hair stand up. That is gone. The audience and the members are aging. Members who sang in the group for many years have gradually stopped singing, and too few people have replaced them. At the recent holiday concert, fewer than 85 members sang. In its heyday, over 125 members sang. The summer Cher concert was an epic disaster. Sound problems resulted in a 45 minute intermission that caused many patrons to leave. Many of whom probably won't come back. There are too many options in this city.
With such a beautiful and important mission, someone needs to make the hard and obvious decisions to stop the bleeding before this group becomes a thing of the past.
Have been to and enjoyed many performances of the AGMC but Lush Life has been an exception. They were lacking their usual energy and charisma throughout what little parts of the show they actually got to perform. The production and flow of the show was also very rocky. At one point a serious monologue was followed by a completely disconnected campy dance routine. I sincerely hope this is not a harbinger of things to come with this great group.
I am a singing member of this organization. In May, I sang the original work "Shaken, Not Heard" with the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus. This is a groundbreaking work where the songs and dialogue highlight the composite struggles of one gay man in his search for compassion, understanding, and grace in the harsh light of organized religion. I felt that we were doing a small part to change the world by presenting this emotional material, which resonated greatly with my own life struggles. This is the kind of value that the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus brings to Atlanta and the world. I will continue to cherish my involvement in this important organization.
What the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus does for me personally and the community at large cannot be underestimated. I recently attended a musical concert that not only touched me personally, but also bridged and important gap between the gay community and the rest of Atlanta. The chorus provides such a positive example of gay role models for LGBT people who are trying to come out as well as for the straight community. Often these positive role models are absent or under-represented in contemporary society. The AGMC blends musical harmony with a vivid reflection of social intolerance to create a musical tapestry of its vision for a more accepting society.
This organization is on the way up. The membership, board, donors, and supporters have taken a nearly 30 year old organization and made it gleam. The staff surpasses expectations through their dedication to excellence. Friction within the organization is kept to a minimum, and the mission of the chorus is consistently achieved in the Atlanta community. Having sung with an award-winning large chorus in the Nation's Capitol, I am equally as proud to be a singing member of the AGMC.