For the second year in a row, the Unitarian Universalist Church will host Classical Pride Charleston, a Piccolo Spoleto event that celebrates queer composers from history to promote messages of equality.
And it couldn’t come at a more pivotal moment for the LGBTQ+ community, with anti-trans bills passing all over the country in 2025. Ryan Pagels, the church’s music director and creator of the June 7 event, said the musicians and performers need to have a certain amount of courage to perform during a time like this.
“We are very social-justice-oriented,” Pagels said of the church. “And this is obviously a big part of doing this concert — bringing awareness and celebrating people who otherwise wouldn’t get to be celebrated.”
The concert is part of Pagels’s ongoing re-examination of what music he puts on at the church.
Crucial, historical pieces
Pagels and the Unitarian Church of Charleston’s Chancel Choir will reunite with the Palmetto Peace Choir and add the Classical Pride Chamber Orchestra for this year’s concert.
Pagels said he selected Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” for the major piece of the concert. He originally wanted Copland’s “Clarinet Concerto,” he said, but his clarinetist friend had family commitments. For Pagels, the decision came down to Copland’s stature within American classical music.
“Aaron Copland is such a monumental composer in Americana,” he said. “And I obviously want to do something that’s recognizable to the audience.”
There will be some repeats from last year’s Classical Pride concert, including Mark Miller’s “I Choose Love,” which was written as an homage to the victims of Charleston’s 2015 racial massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Calhoun Street. Now, with the 10th anniversary of the massacre approaching, Pagels said the decision to play the Miller song again was unanimous.
“I was very, very happy that we all agreed, yes, this is an important piece,” he said. “We should be bringing this back this year.”
Pagels’s mission at Unitarian Universalist Church
Pagels said he has made it critical that he add these new perspectives to the church, especially now as he’s coming up on his fourth year as music director.
Tim Rinaman, a 66-year old bass singer at the Unitarian Universalist Church, said Pagels has challenged the choir to broaden its musical horizons. Rinaman said Pagels has taught more music theory during rehearsals, along with specific pieces. It has all been a part of an effort to open more music to the church generally.
“He’s not only brought that perspective,” Rinaman said. “Ryan brings interesting things to sing. There’s a variety and complexity to them.”
Pagels said part of his mission as music director, which includes concerts like Classical Pride, is to provide two large musical offerings a year as a thank-you to the community. But he doesn’t want these events to be your standard church music fare. Indeed, the other big event will be a family-friendly “Phantasmagorical Extravaganza” at Halloween.
“Here’s something we want to give back to you,” Pagels said of his mission at the Unitarian Universalist Church. “And then the question of: What’s a void that we can fill that’s not already being done?”
Pagels already has plans to change next year’s Classical Pride. He wants to commission a local queer composer to write a piece for the 2026 concert to further grow the concert.
“So I’m actually going to say that at the concert, like, ‘Hey, if you happen to be a composer, shoot me a message,’” Pagels said. “And hopefully we can connect.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO: “Classical Pride Charleston,” 7:30 p.m. June 7, Unitarian Church Charleston, 4 Archdale St. Tickets are $30.
Henry O’Brien is an arts journalism and communications graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
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