I'm back from a very moving evening at the New York City Gay Men's Chorus rehearsal for their Carnegie Hall concert on Wednesday. I'm not sure I can explain it but here goes. Through a lucky fluke involving a cabaret act composed of three members of the Chorus, the music director asked me to do somechoral arrangements and I ended up their staff arranger from 1981-1999. The music director left after 20 years and the new MD and Board decided I was an unnecessary luxury and terminated my contract. This led to four years' estrangement when the next musical director asked me to come back and do several charts. Last year, I did a whole Broadway concert which ended badly because the Chorus pleaded poverty and I made life difficult for them until they finally paid me. I vowed never to work with them again.
This year the original music director was asked to come back, and he called me to come back as well, Tonight's rehearsal was a reunion of people I hadn't seen in years: David Rogers on trumpet, Karen Lindquist on harp, Bruce Doctor on percussion - all people I'd brought in to work on BK's recordings for Varese Sarabande and people I respect as musicians and colleagues. A lot of the music I hadn't heard or thought of in around 1o or more years. They played two glorious pieces by two dear friends and wonderful arrangers - Dean Johnson and Mark Riese - who died far too young from AIDS complications, and a piece of mine for antiphonal choir that I really had no memory of writing but shocked me by how wonderful it was. I've been going through some disillusion with several shallow and rather callow friends lately, and it was a bittersweet reunion tonight. I'm still not sure exactly what my feelings were over being there. It was quite moving and nostalgic and a bit sad. And a bit wonderful.