Last summer, when the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus resumed in-person rehearsals, longtime chorus member David Hayes experienced a mixture of emotions.
“It was a very strange feeling, but it was a very familiar feeling at the same time,” said Hayes, 52, who resides in Lewis Center.
Preparing to return to performing amid the pandemic, the chorus has rehearsed in a succession of large, airy environments — first in a parking garage, then a park and eventually a warehouse. All singers are masked and distanced while practicing.
“This is just a very ‘Twilight Zone’ moment, but then all of a sudden, you’re like, ‘All right, this feels natural that we’re actually able to sing again,’” Hayes recalled of those early rehearsals.
The end results, however, have been worth it: The chorus is not only among a handful of central Ohio performing arts organizations to offer a complete season, but, according to leaders, is unique throughout the nation.
“We are the only Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses member that is having in-person rehearsals, and we’re the only ones that have had basically a full, normal season — as normal as you can have,” said Artistic Director Brayton Bollenbacher, 37, a graduate of Ohio State University who had been running a chorus in Tucson, Arizona, before signing up to run the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus in late 2019. His first show was set for a few months later.
“We were the day before opening night when the governor canceled everything for March,” said Bollenbacher, referring to Gov. Mike DeWine’s initial ban on gatherings last March. “What a weird year to start with an organization.”
Since then, the chorus has performed in a small configuration at Huntington Park in October and gathered to produce a virtual holiday show in December. On Saturday, in its most robust offering since the start of the pandemic, the group will return again to Huntington Park for a concert titled “Light & Love.”
The Columbus Clippers’ home has become something of the chorus’ home away from home, too.
“For us, it’s just such a great way to be safe for our audience and our singers,” Bollenbacher said.
For Saturday’s program, 62 chorus members will take the field. Each will don face masks, wear individual microphones and be positioned 8 feet from one another. In most other ways, though, the concert should resemble pre-pandemic performances — something that audiences have been craving, Hayes said.
“Nobody really can say we’re back to any type of normalcy, but it gives them the sense of familiar again — something they have loved to listen to and watch in the past,” Hayes said. “It’s this step forward to getting back to what we used to be able to do on a grander scale.”
The first half of the two-part program aims to reflect on the social upheaval of the preceding 12 months, which have been marked by widespread concerns over racial injustice.
“We’re doing ‘Ball of Confusion’ by the Temptations, which … is very much about racial/social unrest,” said Bollenbacher, who will conduct most of the concert. “We’re doing a song called ‘Overwhelmed’ that’s popular on TikTok right now. ‘I get overwhelmed so easily’ — which, I think, is how most of us have felt all year.”
“Heavy,” a newly commissioned work commenting on the death of George Floyd, will be guest-conducted by Brooklyn Youth Chorus conductor Eric Williamson, who has traveled from New York to join the chorus for this show.
Williamson will also lead a performance of the spiritual “My Lord, What a Morning.”
Upbeat, forward-looking tunes will be featured in the second half, including Dolly Parton’s “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” and “That’s What Friends Are For” from the Disney movie “The Jungle Book.”
“We’re all trying to come out of this crazy time, and we are starting to see hope and light,” Bollenbacher said.
Singing while masked presents its share of problems, including enunciation.
“Doing an ‘oo’ vowel, like in ‘moon,’ is really hard because ‘oo’ is a difficult vowel to project anyway,” said Bollenbacher, who nonetheless says that there is a silver lining to the experience.
“They have to listen a lot harder and they have to be more efficient,” he said. “There’s less time for them to talk to each other, so I’m actually able to get more things done.”
And the message of “Light & Love” promises to resound through Huntington Park — one that no mask will muffle.
“There is hope,” Bollenbacher said, referring to the present moment in society. “But there’s only hope if we continue working for better.”
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At a glance
The Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus will perform “Light & Love” at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday at Huntington Park, 330 Huntington Park Lane. Tickets cost $22 to $32, or $11 for age 18 and younger. Visit columbusgaymenschorus.com.
