“Nine artists, nine composers, nine choreographers, one GMCW” is how Thea Kano , the artistic director of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, introduces the group’s almost-Olympic undertaking for its upcoming performance Portraits. The groundbreaking and multidisciplinary project is a nine-movement oratorio, featuring commissioned visual artworks brought to life by original music and dance performances. Timed perfectly with Pride Month , Portraits takes place at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on June 16.
For each of the nine movements, GMCW members will recite the lyrics of each song before it begins. The painted portrait will be projected above the stage, where more than 25 singers and 15 dancers from GMCW’s dedicated dance ensemble will perform the commissioned pieces with a quartet of musicians. The dance numbers will be a mix of solos, partner dances, and full ensembles.
In accompaniment to the live show, GMCW is publishing a coffee-table book featuring hundreds of the portraits submitted for the project. “We’re really hoping that everyone—audience members and performers—see themselves represented on that stage at some point in the show, so they feel seen and recognized,” Kano says. The project, four years in the making, began with a visual concept.
In early 2020, GMCW singer Bill Lipsett approached the chorus he’s been a part of since 1991 with a new commission inspired by the 2010-11 National Portrait Gallery exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and D.