OGMC Interview with Denis Whitaker By June Kamerling I had the pleasure of interviewing Denis Whitaker in September 2021. It was great to get to know a bit more about his many skills and talents, after singing with Denis in the chorus and being on the Marketing Committee with him. Here is what Denis told me: JK - How did you find the chorus and when did you become a member? DW - “In January 2010, I saw a clip in the paper about auditions for a gay men’s chorus. I didn’t know such a chorus even existed. It had been around for 10 years but I hadn’t heard of it. I hadn’t been singing for a while, and I needed to make some new gay friends. The chorus was my door into a new world of music, friendship and community. I auditioned for Michael Patch. With my musical back ground I got in, though Michael assigned me to sing 1 st tenor. I did it even though 2 nd tenor was more fitting for my voice. Eventually I moved to T2." JK - How did you come to live in Martinez? DW - “Years and years ago I went to Yosemite Valley with a friend and fell in love with it again. I decided I wanted to live there, so I got a job at Ahwahnee Hotel as a bus boy. The rest is history…..I took a number of restaurant and hotels jobs over the years. Later on I was working in Menlo Park for a restaurant chain, The Velvet Turtle. They were closing that “store,” and they offered me a GM position in Pleasant Hill. I moved to Martinez to take that job….well, THAT business closed about a year later. I had to find a job. I became a restaurant manager at Walnut Creek Marriott, then moved to catering sales and marketing for about 10 years. I was Director of Catering and Event Management when I retired. My back ground is 35 years in restaurant management, though I was trained to be an actor and a singer.” JK - Tell me about your musical back ground. DW - “Got a while? I grew up in California… San Carlos and Orange County. I started studying music when I was 6; Hawaiian Steel guitar with Professor Sydney Gelb. Then accordion, then clarinet… I had perfect embouchure— I had buck teeth. By the time I was 8, I was reading music. In Catholic school I learned to sing Gregorian chants in the original notation from the nuns. At 16 I started taking voice lessons. My first solo recital was at 17, singing as a baritone. In college I was a drama major and music minor. In my 2 nd year in college I took singing lessons at Cal State Fullerton. My voice teacher vocalized me up to a high C, made me promise not to sing baritone ever again. When I was living in San Luis Obispo I formed a vocal quintet with friends I’d been singing with. We sang SSATB. I LOVED singing harmony with one on a part. Since I moved to Martinez I have sung with SF Symphony Chorus, The Mastersingers, Cantare con Vivo, Oakland Symphony chorus, and now, of course OGMC.” JK - When you came into the chorus what was it like? What was the general feeling? Who was there? Who did you connect with? DW - “The members who’d been there from the very beginning were Peter Dempsey, José Colon, and John Rogers. The chorus felt solid. Michael Patch, the AD, quit suddenly a few years later. That’s when Stephanie Smith came in and things really started to change. There were maybe 40 members when I joined. Most tended toward older. Back then the chorus had trouble attracting younger singers. It took a few years to get the 30-somethings….Joe, Dustin, Wally, Brian, Dave, Lorenzo….They all came in about the same time. Now we’ve got 20-somethings, so we have a wide range of ages. A chorus like ours is unique in that a range of ages can come together and become friends. The younger guys didn’t know the history of the chorus or much about their own history as gay men. Aside from churches and bars what else was there to bring gay men together across a range of ages? This is a great way to come together and form friendships in our community." JK- What is your involvement in the chorus beyond singing? DW - “I quickly became deeply involved with the chorus. In my 2 nd year I became part of the Artistic Committee, and then its Chair. Stephanie succeeded in building a better infrastructure. In 2014 I was part of a committee that re-wrote by-laws, with a strong Vice- President system to run the chorus if we didn’t have a Chorus Manager. With my management experience I was voted in as VP. I’m proud of what we did during that time. We’re stronger and more organized with a solid inner structure. As a result, we can now attract independent board members who are not singers in the chorus, who have a good networks of people with knowledge, community and money connections. We don’t have a really solid financial base but I think we can get there now. These days I’m chair of the Marketing & PR Committee.” JK- What do you want to see in the future of the chorus? DW - “I’d like to see us grow in numbers and diversity. We have 7 new people joining the chorus post pandemic. This is great. My seat on the Artistic Committee gives me permission to weigh in on what we sing. My passion is classical music, though I love other genres as well. Mostly right now I’m so happy to be back singing IN PERSON together.”

OGMC Mourns a Friend We learned recently of the passing of Michael Morgan, Music Director of the Oakland Symphony, and a friend of the chorus. We collaborated with the Symphony and the Symphony Chorus three times in the recent past, singing the Brahms German Requiem; Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy (with Emanuel Ax), and the Prisoners’ Chorus from Fidelio; and selections from the Mozart Requiem, all under maestro Morgan’s baton. Everyone who participated was enriched by the experience.  We’ve lost a friend and collaborator, and the whole community has lost a treasured musician. Our hearts go out to all of our brothers and sisters in the East Bay musical family.

The Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus is excited to welcome our newest national holiday, Juneteenth, as a significant opportunity for us to celebrate and highlight the contributions of the African-American community to our organization, our city, and our nation! We look forward to further strengthening our commitment to promoting inclusivity within our Chorus and to increased communication with the entire Oakland community, as we return to in-person rehearsal and performance in the coming years. Happy Juneteenth!

TUESDAY FEB 9TH, 2021 JK- I had the pleasure of interviewing Shawn on Zoom last month (unfortunately not in person). I was hoping to have the interview ready to publish for our last Town Hall during Black History Month but the timing didn’t work out. So…here we are a month later. First question I always ask… JK- When and how did you come to the chorus? SS- I had recently come back to the Bay Area after 4 years at Humboldt State (I was born and raised in the Bay Area…born in Oakland, raised in Alameda). In fall of 2016 I was visiting a friend in LA who is in GMCLA. When I heard them sing I thought “I need this”. I found OGMC (used to be OEBGMC) through an app called “Meet Up”. James was facilitating the app for the chorus at the time. I contacted him and he gave me all the information I needed for auditioning. JK- Is the chorus different now from how it was when you joined? SS- I’d say the chorus is very different now from when I joined. The year before I joined there was not a lot of diversity. James had been trying to increase diversity in his advertising and recruiting new members. The year I joined there were a lot more younger people and people of color. We continue to grow in diversity as we welcome trans people and women to sing with us. Billy was the director when I came in. I joined the chorus at that sweet spot when everything was going into a really positive trajectory. Billy greatly improved our professional look. He made us sound and sing better as a unit. JK- What’s your music background? SS- I got started with music in my church choir. I was in the stands every Sunday trying not to fall asleep. I enjoyed singing but it was hard for tiny me to wake up at 6 AM and spend the entire day singing for the Lord. Other than that I wasn’t participating in anything musically, just singing in the shower. I was in some high school musicals, but nothing in college. JK- Tell me about high school musicals...Were musicals your “life” in high school as they are for many high school kids? SS- I wouldn’t say they were my life but I really enjoyed them. I went to Oakland School for the Arts to be an actor. It turns out only Drama majors got roles in plays so my next choice was musicals…..it turned out I really loved them and looked forward to the spring musical every year. Usually I was in the ensembles but one year we did Seussical the Musical . I played Mr. Mayor which turned out to be really hard because I’m a bass and Mr. Mayor was a comical role with a higher voice. But I learned how to make the change in my voice and it worked out. In college I took some piano classes. I enjoyed it and tried to keep up with it but I didn’t practice enough and never took it further. When I joined the chorus in 2016 after coming back to the Bay is when music really took off for me. JK- Did you start getting involved in chorus leadership and politics from the get go or did that come later? SS- I’d say kind of from the get go….First season they leave you alone...then they say “Hey, You’ve been here long enough...come on, join a committee…” So I joined 4 committees. I really jumped in but it wasn’t too much work. JK- What committees did you join and how did it go? Did it lead to where you are now? SS- I started with membership, finance, production and…I can’t remember the other. I left the area for 7 months to move to Memphis but quickly came back. Steve Smith approached me about being a board member. I agreed, so I was on the board which makes you part of the leadership committee. Meanwhile, I was still on production and I dabbled with the marketing committee for a bit. I’m on the governance committee right now. That’s my general journey. JK- Where do you see the chorus going at this point once we can be active and start meeting again? SS- Once we can meet again I want to see us become more engaged in the local community that we have around us. Engaged in different ways than we have been...I love the outreach that we do and our concerts are great. I also want to see different kind of volunteer events. There are ways we can show up for our community that are high contact and low impact. Wally suggested we do a clean-up around Lake Merritt…..things that will make us visible in the community around us. We can have fun being together and serve the community at the same time. JK- Many people I’ve interviewed had said that the chorus became family and led to their involvement in their local gay community. Was that true for you being newly back in the Bay Area? Did you have a gay community before you joined chorus? SS- Yes and No. When I joined it definitely felt like family. And that is important to me. When I join any community it needs to feel like a family. OGMC was just the right size. I could get lost in the crowd if I wanted to without entirely becoming invisible, but I could also connect with so many different people personally. I was already connected to a few queer groups before I joined the chorus. When I first moved back to the Bay I was a health educator for Health Initiatives for Youth which is a non-profit in SF. I worked with “We’re in Trans” youth across the Bay Area which connected me with local queer activist organizations so I felt like I was connected to local gay communities. I was also part of a queer volleyball group. JK- How do you see your involvement with BLM interfacing with the chorus? SS- This goes back to what I said earlier about wanting to do more local events and showing up as a community. We, as a chorus, need to do more to show up for our people of color. We are a primarily white chorus and that does not reflect the diversity of our community. I want to see us reach out to the community around us to build some of those bridges and to create a culture of tolerance, acceptance and understanding of the diversity around us. JK- Would you talk about the Black Lives Coalition? How did that come about? SS- YES! I’d love to talk about that! John Chastain approached me in June 2020 right after the killing of George Floyd. He said “We have to do something”. John and I started collaborating on what we could do as a chorus in the Oakland community to show our solidarity in a stand against racism. As BLC formed we had to look at “What can we be doing to be sure our own house is clean?”. We have to “clean house” so we can have the right impact on communities around us. We want to be sure the chorus shows up as welcoming and anti-racist. We welcome anyone to join the Black Lives Coalition. We meet Wednesdays at 7 PM. We have done a series of Town Hall meetings and we’re going to do a board and leadership diversity workshop and continue to make sure that the chorus strives to be welcoming to all people of color. JK- I’ve learned a lot from the Town Hall Meetings. Thanks to you and the members of your committees for all the effort that has gone into Black Lives Coalition and reaching out to our very diverse community. It’s great to know that the chorus has been busy during the past year doing good in the world during the pandemic. We’ve stayed connected and afloat and we look forward to that work continuing into the future and especially to being able to sing together again.

A Statement of Solidarity from the Oakland Gay Men's Chorus The Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus stands with our Asian-American members and alongside the larger community in mourning lives lost and remembering those who have suffered anti-Asian hate crimes. We know anti-Asian violence is being fueled by years and generations of vicious anti-Asian rhetoric. We also know that white supremacist harm is not limited to Asian-American communities. We are horrified by the continuing acts of violence against members of our Asian-American communities across the country, from New York to Oakland’s Chinatown, and we urge our members to take on the hard work of combating white supremacy and rooting it out in all of our communities and systems. The most important chorus right now is the chorus of voices demanding justice. Hate, intolerance, and racism have no place within the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus or anywhere. Join with us in raising our voices together for a more just world. We encourage you to check out and support the following organizations that serve the Asian/Pacific Islander community: National National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) - https://www.nqapia.org Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund - https://www.aaldef.org Asian Americans Advancing Justice: Asian Law Caucus - https://www.advancingjustice-alc.org California Asians with Attitudes - https://asianswithattitudes.com Chinese for Affirmative Action - https://caasf.org Vietnamese American Community Center of the East Bay - https://www.vacceb.net/programs/anti-crime/

Interview with Joe Rosenmayer After an afternoon of rehearsal for Jeff Becker’s show, Something Special , which Joe was accompanist for, he and I sat on my front porch and chatted about his experience in the chorus. JK - How did you find the chorus? JR - “I came to the chorus in Fall 2012. I moved to the Bay Area from Chicago in 2011 so I was here for a year before I joined the chorus. I was in Windy City Gay Men’s Chorus in Chicago and I knew wanted to join a gay chorus here. I knew there were many gay men’s choruses in the Bay Area and I knew about SFGMC but we were living in El Cerrito and OGMC was closest. Mike, my husband, had moved here before I did and I think he found the chorus first and was an usher at a concert. I did a google search and found OGMC. I volunteered as an usher for the spring concert before I joined which was right after GALA. Stephanie Smith was director….she was wrapping up in the chorus as interim director…so I sang with her for one concert and then Jeremiah Smith came on board. My audition with Stephanie was the weirdest audition (what a surprise, right?). She made me dance. In the form I filled out before the audition I gave myself high marks for sight reading. She gave me a really hard piece to sight read and I did a really terrible job (laughing). It was a weird chanty piece with no time signature which it turned out, we did for the concert that season. I felt really stupid after sight reading. Then she made me dance. All the chairs were put away….She said to just use the space. I was a dancer so it wasn’t that intimidating. Then she changed tempo from fast to ballet. It was fun and really strange…and I got into the chorus. That was my intro to Stephanie Smith and OGMC”. JK - Did a bunch of you come in at the same time? JR - “I was the last of the group of my close friends. Walter and Dustin had been in for a while. Then came Dave and Brian. When I ushered, Wally came to me and said ‘be sure you sign up to audition’. I became fast friends with those guys and we’re still close friends….8 years later”. JK - What was the chorus like then vs. what it’s like now….8 years later? JR - “It’s hard to say...it was in a transition. I came in at a tumultuous time…a lot of drama. Someone walked out during my first rehearsal. I don’t remember why but I remember thinking “OK…What’s going on?” It was a rocky but it came in waves. Now we feel stable (well, pre-pandemic). When Billy came on board is when we started to get more serious…we didn’t have to keep resetting. Billy was with us for a while and we grew as a chorus. With Ben coming on last year we were in a really good place and it was a smooth transition. No drama. The board has been solid for a while and I think that has really helped create a sense of stability within the chorus." JK - Tell me about your role in leadership in the chorus. JR - “I wasn’t in a leadership role for a few years. I came, sang, left. Denis Whitaker was the T1 Section Leader when I joined but then he went to T2 and I immediately became the T1 section leader….my 2nd concert. Eventually I joined the artistic committee. I seem to have followed Denis’s footsteps….Every time he moved forward I took his place. Then I joined the board and became VP (still following Denis…but I won’t become marketing chair). I’m in my first term on the board now”. JK - Where do you see the chorus going and where would you like to see the chorus go? JR - “Hard to say right now cause everything is so weird. We’re hoping for a holiday show next year. It’s really kind of. I miss the chorus. The virtual choir was really fun but I really miss singing in person with the group. I’d love to see us grow as much as we can. I’m afraid some people will get used to not singing and leave. I’d love to do a show at the Fox theater...that scale. Ben said “Think big…dream...think big. What do you want?”. It would be amazing to get that big. We need to focus on our diversity a bit more. We’ve been trying but it’s a struggle. BLM coalition is a big thing. I hope it gives us places to recruit. Our mix is not that diverse. I’d love to have more people of color. I want to grow in numbers but also in diversity." JK - I’d love to hear about your music background? JR - “I started taking piano when I was 6. When I was in 3rd grade my older sister was cast as Peter Pan in her high school musical. That was my first exposure to theater. I remember going over her lines with her so when I went to the show I knew the whole script and all the music. It was so exciting to me. I loved it. I was in church choir and that was great but THEATER is where I fell in love...where it all started. When I was in 5th grade the local high school did Sound Of Music . They offered roles of the Von Trapp children to the middle and grade school kids. I was Frederick Von Trapp. The high school kept allowing the middle school to audition so I was in all the high school plays all thru school. And then in HS I stayed in theater as well as chorus and continued all thru college. When I was a sophomore in HS I started playing piano in church and I never stopped. It’s an easy way to make good money. I had a church gig for 15 years and I was church music director for 4 years before I moved to California. I also did music direction for local community theater groups in Chicago for vocalists as well as the bands. Depending on the show I either played piano, music directed or was in the show as an actor/singer. I was in a Cabaret Ensemble in Chicago called The Chicago Red Line. I currently sing in the Episcopal Church choir and sometimes music direct. I’ve done a lot of music and theater my whole life”. JK - Back to The chorus. How does the chorus feel to you now, especially during the pandemic? JR - “As I said earlier, I lived in California about a year before I joined the chorus. When I joined is when I really started feeling at home here. It’s what changed me. I was very homesick for Chicago a lot that first year. The chorus really made California be my home." JK - Everyone I’ve interviewed has said the same - that the chorus feels like family…I agree too. JR - “Yes, We fight, we cry, we laugh, we celebrate together. Like when Peter Dempsey passed away. It was so sudden. We were already getting together that night for our weekly Zoom call. We decided to make that meeting about Peter so people could process and talk and come together. It was really beautiful and really felt like family. We sang What a Wonderful World . I cried (we all did). Everyone had an opportunity to talk. It really brought home for me how much we are a family. Zoom is weird but it’s what we’ve got right now and at least we can see each other and still be together. When I joined I was on the younger spectrum at age 31. There were several over 50’s but hardly any younger people. But that’s changed. Now we are much more diverse as far as age goes from 20’s to 80’s. The difference in generations doesn’t matter. It’s never been an issue. Everyone is welcome. I was unsure how it would go to allow women into the chorus but it’s been great. I didn’t know if some people wouldn’t respond well to change but everyone has embraced the diversity." JK - For me, as one of 3 women and even as one of two straight women, age/gender doesn’t feel like an issue at all. JK - Is the chorus your main connection in your life to gay community? JR - “Definitely. My church is extremely open…there are a lot of gay people but chorus is where I’ve found my place. I feel very much a part of it. I can’t wait for us to be able to be together in person and sing again."

The holidays are all about traditions. The fancy platter for the Thanksgiving turkey that came from your grandmother. Your favorite aunt’s crispy latkes. The ornaments the kids made. Partying with friends on New Year’s Eve. But this year has been different. This cruel year made us leave behind our traditions, temporarily, we hope. Here are a few things that didn’t happen this year...

For our 10th and final Choral Collage, we’re returning to Bayard Rustin. We think he was speaking directly to us!

Our 9th installment comes with words of wisdom from the Indigo Girls, taken from their 1999 song “Go.” With a career spanning over three decades (and counting), and well known for their intricate harmonies, captivating lyrics, and incredible guitar skills, this folk rock duo often brings activism into their music, boldly singing out for the environment, gay rights, and civil rights. While on tour during election years, they often include this song in their sets, which serves as a reminder and a plea to vote. Since their tour was cancelled this year due to Covid19, we are helping to get their message out — how important your vote is, especially this year — don’t assume anything, just go! https://registertovote.ca.gov