FREDERICK HAMMERSLEY FUND NEW MEXICO PBS GREAT SOUTHWESTERN ARTS & EDUCATION ENDOWMENT FUND THE NELLITA E. WALKER FUND FOR KNME-TV AT THE ALBUQUERQUE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION NEW MEXICO ARTS, A DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS, AND BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS AND VIEWERS LIKE YOU ♪ Come out!

And become yourself ♪ ♪ You're not the one who's wrong!

♪ ♪ Come out!

♪ ♪ Listen to me ♪ CHANGING THE WORLD THROUGH MUSIC THE NEW MEXICO GAY MEN'S CHORUS UNITES VOICES AND HEARTS AND HELPS LGBTQ+ PEOPLE FEEL SEEN, HEARD, AND EMBRACED PIANISTS AND LIFE PARTNERS KIRK WHIPPLE AND MARILYN MORALES CREATE BOLD, GENRE-BLENDING MUSIC ROOTED IN LOVE, LEARNING AND COLLABORATION.

IT'S ALL AHEAD ON COLORES!

UNBREAKABLE VOICES [ Orchestral Music ] >> Jerry: The mission of the game is chorus is; change the world through music and we want to be a strong representation of the LGBT community.

[Music] "My Name is Harvey Milk, and I'm here to recruit you!

I'm here to recruit you for the fight to preserve your democracy from those who are trying to constitutionalize bigotry.

We are not going to allow that to happen!"

[Cheering] >> Faith: So, how did the New Mexico Gay Men's Chorus get started?

>> Aaron: Well, basically the need for an LGBTQ chorus or a gay men's chorus started around the late 70s and the New Mexico Gay Men's Chorus was actually one of the first ones and so 1981 is when that got started here in Albuquerque.

It was called the "Brash Ensemble."

It was much more low profile than we are today.

It was a different time.

There was still the need for community and to do music that was more meaningful to gay men.

So, it was just something kind of a social activity, but it started to grow into having concerts over the years and then as society changed and we decided that we wanted to be a little bit more high profile and do concerts in bigger venues and involve other artists and make a real community of it.

[ Orchestral Music and Singing ] >> Jerry: We've really been putting a lot of effort into opening up our memberships so right now we kind of use the phrase "We're not all men, we're not all gay."

and so I'm super excited that we have the group that we're building together and we just really want to be an open an affirming space.

[ Orchestral Music and Singing ] >> Faith: And your most recent concert, was the Unbreakable Harvey Milk.

So, I wanted to know a little bit about that.

What were the stories and themes explored?

>> Aaron: Famed Broadway composer, Andrew Lippa, was commissioned back in 2014 by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus among others, to write something about, kind of their, patron saint of San Francisco, Harvey Milk.

♪ I'm tired of the silence, so I'm going to talk about it.

♪ ♪ Do you believe you're not alone anymore?

♪ ♪ And never have to be?

♪ ♪ Do you believe that you belong ♪ ♪ to something bigger than yourself?

♪ >> Aaron: It does talk about his life, his death and his legacy.

So, that was really impactful for gay men's chorus' all around the United States and many of them performed it after it was commissioned.

But Andrew Lippa thought that there were more stories to tell besides just Harvey Milk.

He was inspired to write a follow-up album called "Unbreakable" and that's the stories of many different people in USA LGBTQ history like Bayard Rustin, Sylvia Rivera, Jane Adams, Very important people that you might not know if you were not in the community at the time that they were doing their work.

So, we felt like it was really important for us to perform this work so we could educate people about these people.

But in a very entertaining way.

♪ If you will not listen to me, if you spurn my statutes ♪ ♪ And if your soul affords my rules ♪ ♪ so that you will not do all my -- ♪ >> Faith: What were some of the songs that you feel really stood out to and affected you emotionally for each of you?

>> Jerry: There was one song in the "Unbreakable" portion that's called "Already Dead."

And it was centered around Harvard and they were starting to find out that people were gay and kicking them out of the school.

And so it was -- the story as I saw it, I interpreted it as it's about a young man at Harvard who gets singled out, is asked to leave, and then is just facing this fear of what's going to happen to my life because I'm now being kicked out of Harvard for being gay.

And what is that going to do to my life?

We've all been there.

What's going to happen to me when people find out?

And what is my life going to be?

So, that's -- it was just a very powerful moving piece and it was sung beautifully and it's just -- hit me every single time we did it.

>> Aaron: There was lots of moments that really just got to people, especially if you were aware of that person or if maybe you identified with their situation.

♪ Come out!

Come out and become yourself ♪ ♪ you're not the one who's wrong ♪ ♪ Come out!

♪ >> Aaron: In the first half, it was Tired of the Silence based on a very famous speech by Harvey Milk where he encourages people to come out, because he didn't want LGBT people to be in the shadows because when people are in the shadows you can put all sorts of interpretations about who they are and what they're doing but when they're your neighbors when they're the people that you do business with when they are your family members and they are coming out and being who they are, it changes the whole society.

and Harvey knew that.

♪ Come out!

Come out and conceive yourself ♪ ♪ as something you can share ♪ ♪ Come out!

Come out and the day you do ♪ ♪ the pain will soon let go of you ♪ ♪ Come out, come out, come out!

Come out!

♪ ♪ To your friends, to your parents, to your boss ♪ ♪ to your neighbors, to your sons ♪ ♪ to your daughters -- ♪ >> Aaron: It's quite joyous and quite emotional. "

-- all your fellow workers, to your cops -- " >> Aaron: Another piece though from that concert that I thought was really quite edgy is called "Sylvia."

It's about Sylvia Rivera, who was a very famous drag queen transgender person at the time of the Stonewall Riots, when that was happening, which is a very pivotal point in LGBTQ history.

And Sylvia was a loud voice for that.

And even amongst LGBT voices she was radical but amazing and ahead of her time and so the song is about Sylvia going through the litany of all the things that she's been called.

[Music] ♪ Who's that person walking down the street ♪ ♪ Who is that person?

♪ ♪ Who is that person?

♪ ♪ Who's that person you're afraid to meet ♪ ♪ Walking down the street ♪ ♪ Who is that person?

♪ ♪ Who is that person?

♪ >> Aaron: The whole concert had just this feel of I'm learning something new I'm identifying and feeling that you're not alone, that we are not isolated just our own personality our own struggles people have come before us they have gone through the difficulties they have been through things that are we would be shocked to hear about today But that gives us courage and that gives us strength to face whatever we are facing now.

>> Jerry: And it feels also very apropos today.

The sort of the climate that's around today is that we do have to keep reminding ourselves that we've got to stay strong and continue to be survivors for the challenges that are being faced right now.

[Musical Performance] [Crowd Cheering] >> Faith: I want to talk about To Shiver the Skies so, this was a very community-oriented project.

Why was it important that this was community driven?

>> Aaron: I felt like it was very important that we could be a force to bring people together to do things that none of us could really do on our own.

[Orchestral Music] >>Aaron: And the music that we wanted to do was something that involved professional soloists as well as an orchestra that could handle the difficulty of the music.

So, that was more community elements that we needed to throw together, putting together choirs, so that we could have all the parts covered.

[Orchestral Music] >> Aaron: And I think that that's part of serving our mission of changing the world to music.

And also going back to what Harvey said about, you've got to come out, you've got to come out to your neighbors, to your friends, people have to know you are there.

And so having all of us come together to do something that's not necessarily an LGBTQ theme but it's more like togetherness or a mission or history of some sort, but that reminds people that LGBTQ people are people and they're artists and they're performers and we can perform with them and we enrich our community.

We create a better place to live here in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, all around New Mexico.

[Orchestral Music] >> Faith: So, what has being part of the New Mexico Gay Men's Chorus meant to each of you personally?

>> Jerry: For me these people are my family -- I love them.

I think we're all sort of impassioned by doing what we do and it's all through music.

And a lot of it is due to the credit of the programming, and the music that Aaron puts together and allows us to get to perform.

>> Aaron: Well, as artistic director, it's been a career journey but also a personal journey for me to understand who I am and what is my voice in the community.

In general, when when you're around people who you share things with, they become a family.

There's even a phrase that we talk about in the LGBTQ community called The Chosen Family and it's typically because people who are gay or lesbian don't always experienced acceptance from their biological family and so they have to go find a place where they do have people that they can trust and that they can count on, that can support them through times, and a lot of times that is other gay men and that's why we even form gay men's choruses or lesbians finding other women like that but for us it's very important that we broaden that tent and make sure that everybody is supported and everybody's lifted up by the work that we do.

[Orchestral Music] >> Faith: So, why is music the best way to change the world?

>> Aaron: It feels safe, music brings these issues in a way that feels accessible non-confrontational and I feel like it addresses the emotions more than it is trying to convince you to change your mind.

We are touching you with the fact that we are people, together as a family, wanting equality, wanting people to live a good life, wanting us to come together, and that's hard to argue against.

It's hard to hate that.

>> Faith: Yeah.

>> Aaron: Right?

>> Jerry: Music has always been something that's moved me.

it can make you happy, it can make you sad, it can make you angry.

But it's really just such a beautiful way to bring out that emotion and for people to feel -- those experiences where you're sitting there, even as an audience member, and just the waves of music comes over you, and just the impact that that can have on you is powerful.

And that's one thing I love, it's always the power of music is to make a difference and to move people.

[ Altogether ] "My name is Harvey Milk, and I am honored to recruit you."

[ Altogether ] ♪ Come out!

♪ [ Applause ] MARRIED IN MUSIC [ Piano Instrumental ] >> Kirk: I'm Kirk Whipple.

>> Marilyn: And I'm Marilyn Morales.

>> Kirk: We are a husband and wife team of composers and pianists and educators and we make music, we teach, we write, we arrange, and one of our models is From Bach to Rock and everything in between.

>> Marilyn: We're always learning.

>> Kirk: Yes we are.

Yes we are.

>> Marilyn: It's like the Cuban author said, "You're born learning and you die learning."

and that's our lives, you know?

[ Piano Instrumental ] >> Kirk: Well, we met each other in 1988 at a piano competition in Portland, Maine.

>> Marilyn: I beat him.

>> Kirk: Yes, she did but I won -- >> Marilyn: Poor guy.

>> Kirk: I won the prize.

[ Both Laugh ] >> Marilyn: And we got married in 1992.

We wrote a two piano concerto, and let me tell you, it was like we needed a marriage consular before we got married, you know, so, because I composed and he composed and so we kind of like -- it's almost like having two people cooking at the same time.

>> Kirk: You better like each other's spices.

>> Marilyn: Yeah, well we had a really great referee our composition teacher, W.A.

Mathieu, he was like, "Okay, you do this and you do that!"

And he set us straight.

>> Kirk: And that was for two pianos and a 50 piece orchestra on our wedding night.

>> Marilyn: And we got married in between the movements.

♪ Always Remember ♪ >> Kirk: These are pieces that have been percolating for quite a while.

I mean, her her musical "Always Remember" about the Cuban American experience, she had been working on that for over 25 years before we premiered it.

One little piece of the time and after while she got the 24 songs, all the incidental music and we were able to launch the world premiere production in 2022 in South Florida.

And similarly my piece "Macabrifesto" had been percolating and we did a workshop of it in 2012 for one piano six hands and choir.

But I decided that the piece needed a little bit more of a fuller balance and it gave me the opportunity for us to bring our friends across from Europe.

We call ourselves the United Nations Piano Quartet.

And, so now “Macabrifesto” is for two pianos, eight hands, bass and percussion.

And choir and soloist.

[ Both Laugh ] >> Marilyn: We don't do anything small, you know?

I don't know if you've noticed, but everything we do is -- Bang!

Bang!

[ Both Laugh ] I mean, even the -- >> Kirk: No we have -- we have small pieces, too.

>> Marilyn: Yeah, no, we do.

One piano, four hands or two piano things, you know?

But -- >> Kirk: We've also written a lot of pieces for two pianos four hands that we play in one piano four hands.

[ Piano Instrumental ] >> Kirk: With two pianos four hands you have one pianists on each piano.

We're in our space it's nice and easy we have all the room we need, we don't have to worry about bumping into each other.

Now, conversely on one piano four hands one thing it's a lot easier to find just one piano in a venue.

Also, there's an added challenge -- and its more immediate because you're both right there.

But there's a challenge because there's an intermediate step that we call "traffic" before you can interpret the piece, you go, "Oh, there's your hand.

Oh, I got to get around -- >> Marilyn: Well, have you seen the size of those hands?

I mean, they're huge!

He took my pinky one time.

We both missed the last cord.

It was like, "Eeeee!'"

>> Kirk: So, traffic, that's an issue with one piano four hands And the sound is different.

Of course, with one piano four hands It's more intimate, you can say, because you have -- I say, just the one piano, but one piano with two pianos you have an expanded range of sororities it becomes more symphonic perhaps.

>> Marilyn: And then with two pianos, eight hands, it's even harder.

>> Kirk: Yet!

>> Marilyn: Because you have to, now you have to not only work the traffic, each one of us in each piano, but also the traffic and also -- >> Kirk: The ensemble.

>> Marilyn: The ensemble, is so hard.

You know?

And we're very lucky.

I mean, it's like, we've really hit it off together, great with Mark and, you know?

>> Kirk: And we should say too that this setting of the United Nations Piano Quartet there's three founding members Marilyn and I, and Mark Solo-Lerís our other founding member Frédéric Chauvel he's had to bow out for health reasons, but we're thrilled that Soraya is stepping in for him.

>> Mark: So when Frederick said, "I can't come Mark."

I said, "Oh, how am I going to manage this one?"

I need somebody who has is high-class piano playing, classical piano playing, but who can also play in different styles because Kirk Whipple's writting is quite complex, especially rhythmically and also harmonically and I thought, "Soraya could do the job?"

and she's definitely doing a very good job.

[ Both Laugh ] >> Soraya: Thanks.

So, my name is Soraya, and I'm privileged to play “Macabrifesto” of Kirk Whipple and honored to replace Frédéric Chauvel .

>> Kirk: The United Nations Piano Quartet is in here for the world premiere of “Macabrifesto” and, in fact, we have an international cultural exchange program between Miami-Dade County and France, which helped us to raise the funds to bring them out here and next year we're going across to do the same piece with French vocalists and instrumentalists.

So, it's very, very exciting for us that we can do something that's international.

♪ Goodbye!

Doesn't seem like he's off them by far ♪ >> Marilyn: Do you want to talk about "Always Remember" first and then “Macabrifesto”?

>> Kirk: Sure.

Sure Sure.

>> Marilyn: I love musicals, really love musicals but I was searching -- I was trying to do something that could stand the times like West Side Story or The Sound of Music, you know?

something that really, really was strong, and not just repetitive.

So, I wrote -- I have a salsa piece.

I have a classical piece, actually that I used, it's a Chopin etude and then I wrote a trio on top of that.

I kept the Chopin etude exactly the same, but I did a thing on the trio on top.

I have a mambo.

I have a rumba.

So, I mean -- >> Kirk: And all very accessible to audiences >> Marilyn: Yeah.

>> Kirk: And it's not something we're trying to get past the audience -- trying to get past the audience >> Marilyn: And at the same time it's challenging for the musicians.

It's not something that anyone can -- Well, they could sing it but they have to practice, you know?

So, I made it so -- and it's tonal I mean, there's nothing crazy -- >> Kirk: Well, and -- My piece "Macabrifesto", eight pieces, it's a smaller set, it's -- "Always Remember" was a three-hour production, with including the admission and "Macabrifesto" is about a 50-minute set of eight pieces, I set to American and British poems.

And so, it did a little bit of a different process.

She wrote all the lyrics, the story and everything for "Always Remember" and I helped her by orchestrating and whereas with "Macabrifesto" the words were written for me by the greatest poets in history.

♪ Above me at my chamber door ♪ >> Kirk: And then I scored it for the choir and two pianos percussion bass.

♪ Forever More ♪ >> Soraya: It's even hard just to play alone with our metronome.

It's hard.

So, with our partner it's harder and with the other duo, [ Phew! ]

complicated just to match -- >> Mark: Exponentially!

It's gets more and more difficult.

[ Piano Insrumental ] >> Mark: With Marilyn being a passionate and romantic, expressive pianist and Kirk is this wild -- I don't know -- He's just quite a phenomenon.

This Kirk Whipple.

And he's -- the rhythmical energetic guy.

So, it's really a subtle mix of different kinds and Soraya, in a way, has some qualities also of Fred because Fred, she has a very good rhythmical sense, so, that's part of why it works well and I'm more -- maybe the more expressive kind of guy so, it's, you know, it's also a story of friendship and of love between people and this is what we did together today.

[ Singing ] >>Mark: Yoooo!

>> Kirk: There's immediacy to being at a live performance that you can't -- you cannot get from a screen.

You can't get from an iPhone when you get into the space and you hear the sonorities and you see the other people who are sharing the experience.

There's nothing like it.

Really what it is for us, the real excitement is being there in the flesh with real instruments and people.

>> Marilyn: Yeah, I actually had a student one time that the mother kept asking, I said, "When was the last time you took her to a piano recital?"

And so then she took her and the girl was practicing, practicing, practicing.

So she comes in the next week and she says, "I don't know how to make her stop."

but I said, "That's not my problem."

[ Both Laugh ] [ Music Ends ] [ Applause ] THE AWARD-WINNING ARTS AND CULTURE SERIES COLORES IS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE PBS APP, YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, AND AT NMPBS.ORG FROM CLASSIC EPISODES TO BRAND NEW SHOWS COLORES IS EVERYWHERE!

WATCH NOW ON YOUR FAVORITE NMBBS PLATFORMS FUNDING FOR COLORES WAS PROVIDED IN PART BY: FREDERICK HAMMERSLEY FUND, NEW MEXICO PBS GREAT SOUTHWESTERN ARTS & EDUCATION ENDOWMENT FUND THE NELLITA E. WALKER FUND FOR KNME-TV AT THE ALBUQUERQUE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION NEW MEXICO ARTS, A DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS AND BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS AND VIEWERS LIKE YOU