WHAT'S IN STORE FOR 2024
Our Performances and News for 2024 and 2025
Winter ... December, 2024
Welcome to our little corner of the world!
We hope you'll find this space warm, inviting, and comfortable as we sing our holiday favorites.
The songs we sing in this performance were chosen entirely by our membership. Be it songs about Santa Claus, or winter wonderlands, or the lighting of the menorah, many of these seasonal classics are an integral part of our holiday memories and songs that speak to our individual spirits.
The program is a combination of some of our own holiday favorites, of songs you may not be familiar with yet (but may never forget after hearing us sing them) and of songs that inspire and speak to our mission of unity, diversity, and fellowship through song. In everything we do, we strive to make a difference in the lives of our singers and our audience, so we hope you smile, laugh, and find inspiration and encouragement in this creative, uplifting, and beautiful collection of songs.
Dates:
Thursday, December 5 at 7pm, Friday, December 6 at 7pm, Saturday, December 7 at 7pm, and Sunday, December 8 at 3pmLocation:
Scottish Rite Masonic Center, 2115 Broad St, Cranston RITicket Prices:
$30 General admission; $25 Senior (62+); $20 Students (with valid student ID)
Looking For A New Musical Home?
Want to sing with a group of energized, dedicated, and welcoming group of folx who
have a message to share with the world?
Come to one of our open rehearsals!
You don't have to be:
a professional singer
able to read music
You do have to be:
at least 18 years of age
able to match pitches in the tenor, baritone, or bass ranges (TTBB)
able to memorize the music for all performances
a participant in team-building activities
If you're looking for fellowship as well as a safe and welcoming place to sing music that
inspires and speaks to our mission of unity, diversity, and fellowship through song, come
check us out!
We hope to see you at our next open rehearsals!
Dates:
Monday, January 20, and January 27, 2025 at 7 pmLocation:
First Unitarian Church of Providence
Corner of Benefit and Benevolent Streets, Providence, RI
Spring 2025 ... June 6, 7 and 8, 2025
Music from the 1960s and 1970s reflected the social and political unrest of the time. Important themes centered around group empowerment: anti-war protests, civil rights, and counterculture movements.
It was a very provocative and transformative time for the world.
Singers and songwriters spoke their minds in hopes of influencing change. The lyrics of their music reflected their experimental and free-spirited nature. The music of this counterculture remains influential to this day, inspiring subsequent generations of artists to express political dissent, advocate for social justice, challenge societal norms, express their individuality, and use music as a means of social change.
These are all of the things that matter to the RIGMC and the reasons why we continue to sing.
Join the RIGMC for our spring show, “Good Vibes,” where we take a retro and reflective journey back to the music of this revolutionary period. Featured songs are from artists such as Bob Dylan, the Fifth Dimension, Joni Mitchell, Sly and the Family Stone, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Bill Withers, and Sonny & Cher. You don’t want to miss this exciting collection of tunes that will have you tapping your toes, shaking your groove thing, and singing along!
Mark your calendars – tickets will be on sale in the spring!
Dates:
Friday, June 6 at 7pm, Saturday, June 7 at 7 pm and Sunday, June 8 at 7pmLocation:
Scottish Rite Masonic Center, 2115 Broad St, Cranston RITicket Prices:
$30 General admission; $25 Senior (62+); $20 Students (with valid student ID)
Open Rehearsal ... August 12 and 19, 2024
Love to sing?
Want to see what it is like to sing with a group of energized, fun-loving people with a message to share with the world?
Come to our open rehearsal!
You don't have to be a professional singer. But you do have to be committed to learning the music.
For those in the know, we sing in the vocal ranges known as TTBB. So if you can match pitches, we may just be your new singing home!
If you're looking for fellowship and to sing songs that inspire and speak to our mission of unity, diversity, and fellowship through song.
We hope to see you at our next rehearsals!
Monday, August 12 and 19 at 7pm
First Unitarian Church of Providence, Benevolent St., Providence RI
GALA Choruses Festival 2024
Wednesday, July 10 – Sunday, July 14, 2024
Minneapolis, MN
What is this Festival?
GALA Choruses signature event is a quadrennial Choral Music Festival, which gathered LGBTQ+ choruses from all over North America and the world. It was five days of singing, connecting, and creating.
It was wall-to-wall concerts, workshops, social events, joy, and pride. It is simply and magically the largest LGBTQ choral event in the world. GALA Choruses Festival gathered over 7,000 singers from over 120 choruses this past summer in Minneapolis.
Performances were at world-class venues in downtown Minneapolis including Orchestral Hall, The Minneapolis Convention Center, and Central Lutheran Church.
RIGMC is a proud member chorus of the GALA organization, and we proudly represented the state of Rhode Island at the 2024 festival. Some of the best takeaways from our week include:
The overflowing love and support from everyone.
Making music together with people from all over the country and the world.
Shedding tears in the audience during a live performance and not being judged by others for it.
The incredible life changing, healing, and uplifting experiences we all had.
The camaraderie, love, and total acceptance shared with 7,000 like-minded singers.
The GALA choral movement serves as a means of expression, community building, and advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights. The movement began in the 1970s by forming various women’s and gay men’s choruses in cities across the United States. Particularly the women’s choral movement brought lesbians and straight women together, providing a space to sing, perform, and express themselves. It was part of a larger movement for women’s rights and empowerment. Since then, the movement has expanded to include bisexual, transgender, and people of all identities and gender expressions, and has grown to include choral groups in many countries worldwide.
It's Complicated ... June 7, 8 and 9, 2024
This exciting concert was all about relationships - all shapes, sizes, colors, and versions; good, bad, and everywhere in between; parental, familial, romantic, and those based in friendship.
Everyone knows that relationships require emotional intimacy, vulnerability, communication, and compromise, which can all be a little difficult at times.
RIGMC examined and celebrated some of those complications musically using hit songs from these contemporary artists: Taylor Swift, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Elle King, James Blunt, Adele, Cher, and more. We will also reprise the newest composition by our Artistic Director, “Beyond,” which was written specifically for the Providence Singers Considering Matthew Shepard event held last March. Remember: People are complicated.
And so are relationships … but they sure make for some good music, done only the RIGMC way!
Friday, June 7 at 7pm - Saturday, June 8 at 7pm - Sunday, June 9 at 3pm
Scottish Rite Masonic Center, 2115 Broad St, Cranston RI
$30 General admission; $25 Senior (62+); $20 Students (with valid student ID)
Considering Matthew Shepard ... March, 2024
Considering Matthew Shepard is a three-part fusion oratorio composed by Craig Hella Johnson and set to poetic text by a wide range of voices: Lesléa Newman, Michael Dennis Brown, Rumi, and 12th-century mystic Hildegard of Bingen. Also included are passages from Matthew's personal journal, interviews, newspaper reports, and writings from his parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard.
The work was presented last March by the Providence Singers, a 100-voice concert choir that performs with the Rhode Island Philharmonic. Directed by Christine Noel, they were joined by guest singers, soloists, a diverse instrumental ensemble, and video.
The Rhode Island Gay Men's Chorus was also invited to perform, and we were honored to open the concert with selections that included a world premiere of a work by our artistic director, composer Kim Kuda, called “Beyond.”
Several local LGBTQ+ organizations joined the event for a pre-concert networking event to share their mission with guests.
"Considering Matthew Shepard demonstrates music's capacity to encompass, transform, and transcend tragedy. Powerfully cathartic, it leads us from horror and grief to a higher understanding of the human condition, enabling us to endure."
--Washington Post, 2016
RIGMC is a gathering of individuals who, united through diversity, fellowship, and song,
strives to make a difference in the lives of our singers and our audience.
