On Saturday, August 20, 1988, the chorus turned ten at Davies Symphony Hall.
A gala for the quilt
The Bay Area Reporter’s Philip Campbell previewed the evening, calling the chorus a goodwill ambassador that had stood by the community through the party years, the Anita Bryant era and now its greatest crisis. Half of the net proceeds would help bring the 10,000-panel AIDS Memorial Quilt to Washington for display on the Capitol Mall that October. Cabaret singer Weslia Whitfield joined the 100-voice chorus and its small groups, Men About Town and the Chamber Singers. Conductor Gregg Tallman promised music from “Faust,” “The Flying Dutchman” and Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” and of course the signature song, which Campbell called the gay national anthem: “San Francisco.”
Thirty names over the stage
The Examiner’s Candy J. Cooper reported that stagehands hung a Names Project quilt panel depicting the Golden Gate Bridge above the 96 singers, stitched with the names of 30 members who had died of AIDS. Executive producer Diane Kohne said nine more names needed to be added. The names of 39 were read during the program. Sixteen current members had AIDS, among them accompanist Terry Peterson, who played a piano solo.
“A healing arm that gives people some joy, some hope, some support.”
— Gregg Tallman, as quoted by the Examiner
Tallman said the chorus had been very political in its early years. Now, he said, it was a healing arm for the community. A Bay Area Reporter photo of the evening showed the chorus in tuxedos on the Davies choral terrace.
From the archives: this post retells reporting by the Bay Area Reporter, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle. The original articles survive only in newspaper archives, so we have told the story here in our own words. Details attributed to those outlets are their reporting; see the sources below.
Sources
- Bay Area Reporter, “Gay Men’s Chorus to Celebrate 10 Years of Music Making” by Philip Campbell, August 18, 1988. ebar.com
- San Francisco Chronicle, “Weekend events listings”, August 19, 1988. sfchronicle.com
- San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle, ““Chorus” 10 years of song: Even AIDS can’t silence gay singers” by Candy J. Cooper, August 21, 1988. sfchronicle.com
- Bay Area Reporter, “Photo: The S.F. Gay Men’s Chorus at its recent Davies Hall appearance”, September 8, 1988. ebar.com
