By Jane Ramseyer Miller, One Voice Mixed Chorus

A few weeks ago, eighty One Voice singers boarded a bus to St. Francis High School to rehearse with their 100-voice Concert Choir in preparation for our collaborative concert in St. Francis on January 9, 2012.  It is always a bit unnerving to enter a new school not knowing how the students will feel about singing with a bunch of GLBT adults.  At St. Francis, the most awkward moment was when we all crowded onto risers with bodies packed in tight.  But, then we started to sing; young voices mixed with older voices and the faces of these young people absolutely lit up. We grooved to an African song and then One Voice singers taught the youth Bismillah, an Arabic Sufi chant with harmonies that make you shiver.  There was an audible sigh from the singers when it ended.  The hour of singing flew by and ended with lots of laughter and excitement about our upcoming joint concert.

“ This was the first time I ever got goosebumps while hearing someone sing!” – St. Francis GSA Student

After the rehearsal, One Voice enjoyed lunch with 25 members of the Gay Straight Alliance at the high school and the conversations and camaraderie continued.  Educational moments are always just around the corner, and this was abundantly clear during lunch when one young woman from the GSA asked, “now what does ‘heterosexual’ mean?” From St. Francis we headed to Duluth for an evening Brave Souls & Dreamers concert at Plymouth Congregational in collaboration with Duluth United for All Families, a coalition founded on the strong belief in the power of marriage for all and that is committed to defeating the proposed constitutional amendment denying marriage for same-sex couples.  The excitement in the sold-out church was palpable. One event volunteer exclaimed, “We loved your music – come back anytime. You can come back for a victory concert after we beat this thing!”

A woman in the Duluth audience who works as a probation officer approached us after the concert shaking her head and said, “I almost didn’t come tonight because I have had such a hard week. Too many sad stories. Your music filled my heart and has given me the hope I needed.”

The weekend concluded with FLASH MOB performances in downtown Duluth and dinner at Tobies in Hinkley on the way back to the Twin Cities.

You can hear BraveSouls & Dreamers in the Twin Cities on January 21 and 22, 2012. Tickets are on sale now at www.ovmc.org.