Men’s Chorus Making a Move to Mainstream

San Diego may not have shed its reputation for political conservatism, but some things are changing.

At the U. S. Conference of Mayors’ annual convention, which ended its conclave here Wednesday, San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor invited the San Diego Men’s Chorus to give a command performance. At an outdoor banquet held at the San Diego Zoo, the Men’s Chorus serenaded the visiting mayors with its arrangements of Broadway medleys.

“We get wonderful support from the city,” said chorus director Gary Holt. “We receive financial allocations from Commission on Arts and Culture, and we’ve always enjoyed the support of the mayor’s office. The whole community is nurturing.”

The essentially gay 70-member choral group will further its mainstream identity when it makes its Copley Symphony Hall concert debut at 7 p.m. Sunday in the company of two sister organizations, the Los Angeles Gay Men’s Chorus and the Turtle Creek Chorale of Dallas. “Triumph,” the gala concert being promoted by Bill Silva Presents, will donate $1 from every ticket to San Diego AIDS organizations.

Holt said he planned the three-chorus concert when he and his singers attended the triennial convention of Gay and Lesbian Choruses in Seattle two years ago.

“We three conductors were sitting around the table at lunch and thought it would be fun to have Dallas come to the West Coast,” Holt explained. Tonight all three choruses will give the “Triumph” concert at the historic Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.

The San Diego singers will provide the highbrow part of the program, including four Hungarian folk songs set by Bela Bartok, a traditional Swedish male chorus wedding song arranged by August Soderman, and one of the Bulgarian folk choruses made popular by the recording “Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares.” Holt and crew will end with a humorous--nay, decidedly camp--barbershop song from the 1920s, “What, No Women?”

The three choruses will join forces to sing a medley from the popular Broadway musical “Les Miserables” and a potpourri of “Somewhere” songs, including Bernstein’s ballad from “West Side Story” and the Judy Garland theme song “Over the Rainbow.”

Mozart series canceled. The Midsummer Mozart festival, scheduled to be held at the La Jolla Athenaeum July 28-Aug. 3, has been canceled because of the demise of the Thouvenel String Quartet. The Texas-based ensemble was to have opened the chamber music festival with a program of Mozart quartets and ended the three-concert event with a performance of Mozart’s G Minor Viola Quintet.

According to Athenaeum program director Dan Atkinson, Thouvenel simply decided to call it quits after playing together for about 14 years, and the Athenaeum learned the news too late to engage another suitable ensemble to fill the gap.

On the heels of the Mozart cancellation, Atkinson announced the Athenaeum’s 1991-92 chamber music series. The six-concert series will open Oct. 13 with an all-Czech musical offering by the Los Angeles-based Pacific Trio. Pianist Niel Rutman will give a solo recital, including Poulenc’s “Babar the Elephant” with narrator on Nov. 3. San Diego’s Arioso Wind Quintet is slated for Jan. 19, followed by pianist Lincoln Mayorga on Feb. 23. The duo of violinist Clayton Haslop and guitarist Jack Sanders will play March 23, and San Diego’s Pacific Lyric Opera company will stage a chamber version of Claudio Monteverdi’s “Coronation of Poppea” at the end of April.

Opera Chorus Auditions. San Diego Opera chorus master Martin Wright is looking for a few good choral singers who have a hankering for grand opera. Wright will hold opera chorus auditions for the 1992 season July 17 and 19 in Balboa Park’s Casa del Prado from 6-10 p.m. Singers should prepare a short selection of their choice; an accompanist will be provided. To schedule an audition, call the opera office (232-7636).

Changes in opera staff. Roberta McClellan has replaced Brenda Hughes as the San Diego Opera’s director of marketing and public relations. McClellan moves to the opera from a similar position at San Diego’s Starlight Musical Theatre. For the last six years Hughes filled a post at the opera which, before her arrival, had been more of a revolving door than a job. Hughes will move to the San Francisco Bay Area to be closer to her two children.