Deborah Hardy
Syracuse, New York USA
A
2009 study by Chorus America reveals some tantalizing facts about choral singers. Compared to their non-singing neighbors, choral singers vote more, give more to worthy causes, are more involved in their communities, and are generally more engaged citizens. Which begs the question, does being part of a chorus engender these kinds of qualities in people? Or are people who are already community leaders more likely to join choruses?
For Deborah Hardy, a founding member of the Syracuse Gay and Lesbian Chorus, the answer is, "the chorus did it for me." Her "chorus impact" story starts in 1991. The Rochester Gay Men's Chorus had come to town, and sitting in the overflow audience at a local art museum, Deborah was thunderstruck by what she was witnessing.
"It was very, very exciting to see gay people who were so courageous as to stand up in public and say that they were gay and they didn't care if everybody knew it," she said. "The gay and lesbian community were dazzled beyond belief. We were open mouthed with wonder--we were astounded at their guts, at the fact that the art museum did not fall down, that there were tickets sold for the event, everything."
At the intermission, people were buzzing. "We can't let Rochester be the only city where people are doing this," they said. "We need to do this, too."
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