The Pink Singers
| The Pink Singers | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Genres | 20th century, baroque, choral, classical, folk, gospel, jazz, popular, show tunes, |
| Occupation(s) | LGBT Choir |
| Instruments | 90 voices (SATB) |
| Years active | 1983-present |
| Associated acts | Barberfellas Gin and Harmonics |
| Website | www.PinkSingers.co.uk |
| Members |
Committee Chair Simon Pearson Musical Director Murray Hipkin Artistic Director Simon Harrison Accompanist John Flinders |
The Pink Singers were formed on 7 April 1983, making the Pinkies the longest-running LGBT choir in Europe.
The original members formed a small ensemble after an open newspaper invite, and over the past three decades the choir has grown into approximately 90 members, making it the UK's largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) chorus. Every year is made up of two musical seasons starting in February and September. Each culminates in a large London concert but which also contain multiple public and private performances at large events, campaigns, corporate events, weddings and civil partnerships. The Pink Singers also undertake an overseas trip and concert each year.
Each season starts with informal auditions, allowing anyone with an interest in joining to try out a few rehearsals first, to feel the social as well as musical make up of the choir. The Pink Singers are a fully mixed choir of varying abilities, ages, genders, and offer all members an opportunity to either learn new, or further develop existing musical abilities over a wide variety of genres and styles.
The choice of music sung by the choir is as eclectic as the membership makeup itself, everything from pop to classical to jazz, folk and show tunes. Variety in a single show can range from Elgar to Ellie Goulding, or from Mozart to Massive Attack. There are multiple choreographed numbers each season also, adding a visual spectacle to the musical.
The approximately 90 singing members are split across 8 voices, upper and lower registers each for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass sections respectively. This vocal range gives the choir great flexibility in musical pieces tackled over the years, from simple 2 part harmonies through to full 12 part splits when including semi-chorus parts.
Musical seasons in the past few years have all had a theme for the final concert. Choir members offer up fresh themes each season, which are decided on by a musical team made up of both paid and volunteer members, led by the Musical and Artistic Directors who also run each rehearsal.
The Pink Singers is a registered UK charity (1151365) and is run entirely through a volunteer committee. This is composed of the Chair, Secretary, Artistic Director, Treasurer, Concert Producer, Multimedia, Choir Liaison, New Members Representative, and a section leader from each of the SATB sections. The choir employs the professional support of a Musical Director and a trained accompanist.
...
Wikipedia