By Reid Vanderburgh
June 3, 2025
On March 30, Portland Lesbian Choir, Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, Bridging Voices (Portland’s queer youth choir), and Rose City Pride Band came together for an epic concert with more than 375 performers. Portland Gay Men’s Chorus singer and GALA Choruses leader Reid Vanderburgh shares his experience.
I’ve sung in over 100 mainstage concerts as a singer in either the Portland Lesbian Choir, Bridges Vocal Ensemble, Confluence (Willamette Valley LGBT Chorus), or the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus. A handful of those concerts will always stand out in my memory, including this past March 30 – Our New World. For the first time, the Portland Lesbian Choir, Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, and Rose City Pride Band collaborated, filling the stage of one of Portland, Oregon’s most prestigious venues. Over 375 performers.
Not long after I joined the chorus in 2008, we did an outreach concert to a small community some 200 miles from Portland. The auditorium was packed, and the whole town was buzzing with excitement. I was surprised at such a reception in a conservative area, and it turned out the chorus was surprised also. There was back story here.
The chorus had come to this community for the first time a few years before I joined, and it was an entirely different experience. Only one business would post a flyer advertising the concert, and the chorus outnumbered the audience two to one. There were maybe 30 people in attendance. The second time – only one business refused to post a flyer advertising the concert, and it was standing room only. The difference was so night-and-day, our director asked our host, “What made the difference?” She replied simply, “You did.”
Those of us who have attended a GALA choral festival have felt the power brought forth by our collective energy – we blew the roof off Minneapolis last July! It isn’t often we get to bring that level of power and energy to our home communities, and the Portland choruses did just that this past March – we blew the roof off a sold-out concert hall packed with 2,600 people. Our audience needed that uplift so badly! We all do at this moment in history.
I would encourage all of you – come together with the choruses in your region, sing together, bring this energy to your home communities. We need to unleash our collective power, sustaining ourselves and our audience in this trying time. Find your fellow singers here: https://galachoruses.org/chorus/