“You cannot interact with the autistic community or the trans community without interacting with both.” –Joelle Maslak Living in a society designed for neurotypical individuals can be very exhausting and overwhelming for autistic people, not unlike the stress and exhaustion of living in a binary world for many trans folks. Especially because most services are […]

Do you ever worry about the interpersonal dynamics in your choir?  Do you ever get frustrated with an individual singer’s behavior?  Do members ever become emotional and you worry if they are ok?  Or maybe you have a board member that is consistently late to meetings or does not accomplish the tasks they said they […]

Phoenix, Colorado’s Trans Community Choir found ourselves at the center of controversy when parental complaint around our scheduled performance of our original play, Raven’s True Self, at a local elementary school was taken up by the CBS Denver News. The wholesome play, about a transgender raven in a community of animals and the importance of […]

The concept of “Asia”, particularly as a cultural signifier, has always been problematic. It assumes a high degree of commonality across what is the world’s largest continent, and has been used to homogenize and “other” what is a hugely diverse swathe of people. When Proud Voices Asia, the Asian LGBT choir network was set up, […]

(above) Shanti: Journey of Peace is premiered by 150 singers with Eastern and Western instrumentalists in the University of Cincinnati’s Great Hall, 2004. This article was originally printed in Choral Journal as part of the October 2018 issue, permission was granted by ACDA to share here. Learn more at acda.org/choraljournal. Finally, I have found means of […]

(above) UMOJA Men’s Chorus (Warren Correctional) prepares for the World Choir Games in Cincinnati; the international panel who came to the prison to ajudicate these singers awarded gold medals in the categories of spirituals and gospel. This article was originally printed in Choral Journal as part of the October 2018 issue, permission was granted by […]

This article was originally printed in Choral Journal as part of the October 2018 issue, permission was granted by ACDA to share here. Learn more at acda.org/choraljournal. I am the product of a K-12 Quaker education received at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia. My Quaker education taught me to listen to and value diverse voices, to […]