Hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Church, Classical Pride Charleston is creating the platform for classical and contemporary LGBTQ+ composers. But more than that, the event is creating space to normalize queer existence throughout the classical canon.
Primarily organized by the church’s music director, Ryan Pagels, the event was inspired by Europe’s first Classical Pride Concert just last year. Charleston’s event marks the first of its kind in South Carolina.
“Pride is smack dab in the middle of the festival,” Pagels said. “It was like the stars aligned — it was a sign that this needs to happen. It made too much sense to not do it like this.”
Local pride offers thoughtful selections
Classical Pride Charleston will features the Singers of Summerville, the Palmetto Peace Choir , a solo performance by Pagels and a string orchestra conducted by Robbi Kenney.
The repertoire includes Mark Miller’s “I Choose Love,” written as an homage to the victims of Charleston’s 2015 racial massacre; and Greg Gilpin’s “Why We Sing,” which emphasizes the power of music to unite people. The program promises to bring an essential queerness to the classical genre, weaving together the likes of Francis Poulenc, Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, and Sam Pottle, whose “Jabberwocky” will be performed (Pottle composed the Muppets theme song).
“We’re sitting at a high level of excellence with the repertoire we’ve chosen,” Pagels said. “We’re opening with Poulenc’s ‘Organ Concerto’ which, because of the complexity, is almost never performed. We’re closing with a silly, flamboyant piece. It’s a little campy but it’s really fun.”
A commitment to allyship and LGBTQ+ support was the real litmus test for participating in Classical Pride Charleston. Pagels, paraphrasing Bernstein, said the performance will be a “reply to violence — to make music more passionately, more intensely, more beautifully than ever before.”
The acts selected have longstanding ties to the Lowcountry’s LGBTQ+ community. The Palmetto Peace Choir participates in other Pride events outside of the festival in Charleston, like singing at the Park Circle Pride Kickoff and Flag Raising.
“The Palmetto Peace Choir is a really wonderful and beautiful way to come together and make music together, make friendships, and make connections,” said Regina Ruopoli, managing and artistic director of the Palmetto Youth and Palmetto Peace choirs. “It’s a very nurturing and connecting experience. It’s a real-life human connection that just can’t be duplicated.
“We’re trying to bring inspiration, love, and hope to the world through music. We feel very strongly about Pride.”
A hopeful and timely partnership
While the event easily could have been held by the church privately, partnering with the Piccolo Spoleto Festival was essential for outreach, Pagels said — in a time when anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is running rampant, getting as many people as possible in the room to celebrate and uplift the community was a real benefit to working within the festival. Beyond that, the festival offers a sort of legitimacy and teases the possibility that this could become a much more regular event.
“The fact that the morning will be the Charleston Pride Parade and the city seems to be chill about the LGBTQ+ community – as a whole because we know it’s not perfect – gives some hope that it will be received in a positive light,” Pagels said. “I hope this becomes a continual annual thing we do.”
Pagels and the church hope that the event will prove more revelatory than oppositional — showcasing that “we have always been here,” he said. Similar sentiments came from the head of Charleston’s Unitarian Universalist church, Reverend Rebecca Hinds.
“LGBTQ+ people are part of the fabric of our lives,” Hinds said. “These are some beautiful notorious composers who are members of the LGBTQ+ community. Lifting that up and reminding ourselves that LGBTQ+ folks are part of every corner of life in Charleston is an honor, and we want to have a positive place to be together in music and celebration. There are no barriers — we welcome with open arms anyone who wants to come.”
Classical Pride Charleston will be held at the Unitarian Church on Saturday, June 1, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased on the church’s website for $25.
Brandon Wallace is an arts journalism graduate student at Syracuse University.
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