New Hampshire Gay Men's Chorus

Chorus News

History made in special tribute to Dr. King!

The men of NHGMC made music history on January 14, appearing for the first time at the 30th anniversary of one of New Hampshire's most beloved annual church-service celebrations honoring the life and works of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dressed sharply in their tuxes, and filled with pride and joy -- and in front of a packed audience, local news media, and various dignitaries at Nashua's First Baptist Church -- our singers belted out the powerful, universal peace anthem, Let There Be Peace on Earth.

Featured as the first guest performance of the evening, NHGMC was later publicized in the lead of a news story in The Nashua Telegraph! Some of the dignitaries, who had attended the first celeberation in 1982, delivered stirring, nostalgic speeches, recalling how our state would take two more decades to accept the MLK holiday, recalling the racially charged, controversial comments by former NH Gov. Meldrim Thompson, who had called Dr. King "a man of immoral character" and had traveled to South Africa in 1978 to praise the white-minority government and defend apartheid. Valerie Cunningham, NH African American Historian, gave an inspiring keynote address on her work chronicling the history of African-American families in New Hampshire.

Many other beautiful, lively, and spiritual performances rocked the house; they included the Nashua Choral Ensemble, soloist Julia Leonard, New Fellowship Baptist Church Choir, New England Pentecostal Church Choir, and the First Baptist Church of Nashua Choir.

The evening ended in a poignant moment, as the entire congregation held hands and sang the timeless civil-rights classic, We Shall Overcome. Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to the First Baptist Church of Nashua. Thank you for inviting us to participate in this amazing tradition and for asking us to do it again in 2013! We'd love to!

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