Jan 09, 2004  | COMMENTS     

In AUGUST 1963, CIVIL RIGHTS pioneer Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Partly because of the success of that speech, and King’s devotion to a non-violent struggle for racial and social equality, a federal holiday is observed each January in his honor.

Although King, who was born on Jan. 15, 1929, is remembered primarily for his work to help gain equality for African Americans, individuals active in Washington, D.C.’s gay arts arena also hold a free concert each year in remembrance of the slain civil rights leader.

“We don’t celebrate ourselves enough as people, and we celebrate only people who are lesbian and gay. But what about people who had similar ideals?,” says Alvin Mayes, a member of the Lesbian & Gay Chorus of Washington and a founding member of Nuance, a male a cappella trio affiliated with LGCW. “That’s when I started thinking about Martin Luther King and how that movement has really spearheaded the lesbian and gay movement.”

In addition to working with the Lesbian & Gay Chorus of Washington, Mayes, 56, is known for his work as a dance and choreography professor at the University of Maryland.

Nuance and the Lesbian & Gay Chorus of Washington will be performing on Jan. 20 as part of a Martin Luther King Remembrance concert at the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church in Southeast Washington, D.C.

The LGBT Arts Consortium, an umbrella group for many gay and lesbian art, music, dance, and performing groups in the Washington area, is sponsoring the concert.

“I think for all of us who are still fighting for social justice, there is so much resonance in the thought that until everyone is free, no one is free,” says Jill Strachan, general manager for the Lesbian & Gay Chorus of Washington and a member of the LGBT Arts Consortium. “[Dr. King] was such a symbol for that and he saw social justice as the key to so many things.”

This year, Nuance will be singing two songs: the spiritual “Steal Away” and “I Will Be Ready,” both of which Mayes says speak about the passion of conviction. He came up with the idea for the concert several years ago, and brought it to the Lesbian & Gay Chorus of Washington, which originally sponsored the event. After asking several other artistic groups and individuals in the gay arts arena to join the effort, the chorus passed responsibility for the concert on to the LGBT Arts Consortium last year.

At this year’s concert, the Lesbian & Gay Chorus of Washington will be singing selections from “Truth Pressed to the Earth Shall Rise,” a piece arranged by Ysaye Maria Barnwell, a member of Sweet Honey in the Rock. The lyrics for the songs are based on and use selections from King’s writings.

VARIOUS OTHER INDIVIDUALS AND groups supportive of the gay community are involved with this effort. The Capitol Hill Presbyterian Choir, the ensemble that sings during religious services, is the host venue and also will be performing.

The Bread & Roses Feminist singers, which has members that identify as straight, lesbian, and everything in between, also will be performing.

“If you leave equality up to people who already have it, it’s less likely to happen,” says Carol Wheeler, a song leader for Bread & Roses, who noted that the group’s performances are usually political. “Even those of us who have less power, in order to believe, we have to be involved. If only people of color care about people of color having rights, it’s less likely to happen.”

Bread & Roses will also be singing two spirituals, one written by Charles Albert Tindley, a son of slaves who was born in Berlin, Md. Tindley was self-educated and became a songwriter and an Episcopal minister in Philadelphia.

A number of singers from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington also are scheduled to perform the Simon and Garfunkel hit “Bridge Over Troubled Water” as well as “Never Ever” a part of a larger work titled “Naked Men.”

“‘Never Ever’ is meant for us to understand that our life takes us many different places and we should take each moment as a gift, and there is always something that we need to give back to the world,” says Jeff Buhrman, artistic director for the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington.

GMCW’s a cappella group, Potomac Fever, will also be performing two songs, including “Corner of the Sky,” a piece from the Broadway musical “Pippin” about finding one’s place in the world.

While the two gay male groups’ selections may be ...