What A Difference A Week Makes

Thirty-ish years ago, I was a young ABC Radio presenter, fresh from my move to Wagga Wagga. My first big national story revolved around the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir being asked to change its name to compete in the national choral championships, held in Wagga Wagga. It was a significant story at the time. Recently, I’ve updated the piece I recorded back then, incorporating new material, and after securing the rights to use some additional material. With Mardi Gras approaching, I wanted to share this radio package, reflecting on the events of the time and how much has changed since.

TRANSCRIPT

ABC Radio Archives: From Westside Story, somewhere by the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir. The issue was whether Wagga might be that place because earlier this year, the championships’ organizers asked the choir to consider changing its name to the Eastern Suburbs G&L Choir.

James O’Brien: It was 30 years ago on The World Today on ABC Radio. I remember I had just arrived in Wagga a few months earlier, presenting the morning show, and it was my first big national story.

Stephen Schaeffer (from the documentary “Something To Sing About”): It’s obviously an important one. It’s the one just before we hit Wagga, okay? I understand there’s been some flurry of excitement in the press about our imminent arrival in Wagga. ABC Radio Riverina rang me at nine o’clock in the morning on Monday in my office, and before I’d even had my cup of coffee, I was talking live on ABC Radio. Is the choir’s participation political?

James O’Brien: That’s Stephen Schaefer, musical director of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir at the time, and he was talking about being on the radio show with me.

Meredith Knight: And then the job of actually applying to go to Wagga was my responsibility to put in the application form.

James O’Brien: This is Meredith Knight. She was secretary of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir at the time.

Meredith Knight (Choir Secretary): And I remember clearly to the day that I was at work as a property manager in my own office, when the phone call came through from the secretary of the organizing committee to say that they had received our application, but I can’t remember exactly how she said it, but I think she said, “Look, there’s just one problem.”

And I said, “Yeah, okay, well, what’s that?” And she said, “Well, we’ve discussed it with the committee, and we’d like you to change your name to the G&L Choir.” I mean, she said to me on the phone, because I said, “Well, why do you want us to change our name?” And she said, “Because we kind of think there’s going to be children’s choirs involved, and that might discourage them from participating. And also, we have a lot of sponsors to sponsor this event, and we don’t want the publicity of there being a gay and lesbian choir that might chase away sponsors.”

Of course, it didn’t, as far as I’m aware. But I remember when we got into the final, that there were two, I think, school groups that stayed behind to cheer us on. They were actually supposed to be going back home, wherever they were from, I don’t know, but they were supposed to be going back home.

But they asked their supervisors and their teachers if they could stay because they wanted to cheer on the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir in the final.

James O’Brien: I caught up with some of the choir a couple of years ago. In particular, I remember one woman who talked about her apprehension at returning to Wagga as she’d previously lived there.

Choir Member: I won’t go into my whole life story, but in 1979, I was in a relationship with a woman that came from Wagga. In 1978, we were sacked from the Mater Hospital for being gay. Yeah, and so she was dragged back to Wagga by her family.

Six months later, I went to Wagga to live with her. It was probably the worst time of my life because it was the most homophobic town. Of course, her parents, I won’t say their name, were quite well-known in Wagga at the time, apparently.

They did everything they could, so I couldn’t get work, I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t do anything. It was just a nightmare. Eventually, I left, and many years later, some years later, fell in love with Tamina and never looked back until Stephen announced that I was going to Wagga.

James O’Brien: So was this a bit triggering for you?

Choir Member: It was, absolutely. I was petrified going back to Wagga. Yeah, yeah, petrified, because I was worried.

I mean, in hindsight, it probably never would have happened, but I was worried I’d run into the girl, I’d run into her family, because people were really horrible to me in the town when I was there, so I was petrified. But none of those things happened, and it was actually a lovely experience. And once I was there with the choir, a lot of those panicked feelings I had sort of settled.

Stephen Schaefer: Hi, I’m Stephen Schaefer. I was the founding music director of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir. I always went there with a great sense of confidence.

I mean, I think I raised the idea with the choir to general incredulity, if I remember. We’d only been going for a little over a year, maybe 18 months, something like that. And for some crazy reason, I thought we should go and do it, even if we didn’t win, which wasn’t exactly on the agenda at the time.

It would be a great experience. It’d be a weekend away, never to be forgotten, as indeed it was. It was sort of like several weekends away, never to be forgotten.

But it was such a wonderful experience. It really put the choir on the map, certainly when we won. But I think it did a great deal for us, each of us, just starting on what has become a 30-year journey.

James O’Brien: One of the interesting things for me, as well as reporting on the story, is that I was also a member of the local gay and lesbian community. So I was given a bit of access behind the scenes to the story as it unfolded.

ABC Radio Archives: Because every time someone stands up and says, “I’m gay and lesbian,” it’s a brave act.

And when 70 people get up and say it and sing it, and they win a competition, it’s really wonderful. Given that early adverse publicity about the choir coming to Wagga, was there any trepidation about coming to Wagga? Well, we didn’t quite know what to expect when we got here. In fact, you know, we got off the train and got onto the bus, and that was that.

But yeah, we had little second thoughts and stuff, of course. And so winning in the face of that is, you know, even sweeter. The gay and lesbian choir took first place in the community choir section, fighting off six others.

With it, political and artistic kudos. We were competing tonight in the mainstream, nationally, with other mainstream choirs. And as a gay and lesbian choir, we won.

I think that’s really important for the community. Stephen, artistically, what is the significance of this? Musically, it means that the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir, which is a group of totally untrained and unauditioned singers, most of whom just can’t read music at all, can meet the challenge, can discover something that they love sharing and communicating with their friends and the wider community, and perform to an Australian class standard. After Wagga, what next? We’ve been invited to sing at the Fifth National AIDS Conference closing dinner, which is a very exciting and prestigious event.

We’re very proud to be part of that. We’ll probably mount another concert early next year as part of the Mardi Gras, and we’re planning to release a CD. International touring has not yet crossed off the agenda.

Getting the choir to Wagga was a major undertaking. So New York or London is a little further off, I think. And I think we’ll actually try and aim to go to the Gay Games in New York in two years’ time.

And I would also like to see the choir go to the Australian Gay Games, the China Standards in Melbourne, in January, long weekend next year, I think we’ll be there. Well, that’s a good thing because we’re part of an ever-widening and very active community in all areas. It’s just fantastic that gay and lesbian people are everywhere and are living and functioning, funnily enough, and enjoying it and starting to say, “Hey, we’re here.”

And celebrating as we can hear. Absolutely.

POSTSCRIPT : I attempted to locate some local members of the organising committee, but unfortunately it was such a long time ago that most have died.

But this is something I recorded at the time. This was the item which played locally on ABC Radio in Wagga, which was very much about the success and challenges for the community itself, as the competition gained further national exposure.

JO: Both artistically, and in terms of popularity, the National Choral Championships are undergoing rapid growth and rapid change, and will expand in coming years, according to one of the judges, Adrian Wintle.

Adrian Wintle (AW): We started very modestly, as you’re aware in 1990 with seven choirs actually entering, and it’s been pretty much a slow moving thing, but it’s starting to spread around, the word of these championships, and as people get to hear about it, and realise it is the richest choral event in Australia, we expect to see even more entries next year.

JO: In terms of quality of performance, where to from where, do you expect to attract better choirs from Australia?

AW: We’re all acutely aware, the judicators, that there are squillions of choirs out there in the wilderness, and we would hope that some of the cathedral choirs, for instance, the collegiate choirs, the university choirs, might see fit to come to Wagga. We also held a think-tank session on the Sunday morning after the event, and we as a committee, gleaned from that various things that will help run the championships in the future including, possibly, the subsidisation of choirs coming in, if we’re to gain sufficient sponsorship to cover the basic travel costs, because we are conscious that Wagga being situtated as it is, represents expenditure of a high order for groups coming in from abroad.

JO: But there was also high praise for the choirs which won from the audience…

Voice Over: The first prize for the male and female choir goes to the Melbourne Chorus of Sweet Adelines.

JO: But Adrian Wintle is fast to point out that it’s artistic merit not just popularity that assures a choir of a win.

AW: There’s a yardstick you apply according to the capabilities, the inherent capabilities of a choir. If you’re judging in a community choir section you can’t expect the attainment of that community choir to rival that of a professional or a sub-professional, advanced chamber choir. And the set works reflect that sort of division, if you like. But within the perceived limits of a particular section you look for excellence.

JO: One of the big surprises was the win by the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Choir. Crowded earlier this year in a controversy – they were asked to change their name to the “Eastern Suburbs G&L Choir” – the secretary of the choir feels proud of their achievement, to have won first place in the Community Choir section.

Stephen Schafer, Choir Musical Director (SS): Musically, it means the Sydney Gay &and Lesbian Choir, which is a group of totally untrained and unauditioned singers, most of whom just can’t read music at all can meet the challenge, can discover something they love sharing and communicating with their friends and the wider community, and perform to an Australian class standard.: We also got the positive reception from the Wagga people, who were the organisers of the Choral Championships. They were very pleased that we were here; they were very pleased that we won. And that was from the Wagga people, who organised the championships. And that was just terrific to just be accepted for who we are by the people. The other choirs thought we were terrific. In fact we’ve got some here tonight celebrating with us, and we’ve just got a tremendous response from people, in fact better than we expected.

JO: So where to from now? Adrian Wintle believes the championships will grow, attracting bigger and better choirs…

AW: Overall, I think it speaks of an expansion. We as a committee have to be ready to cope with that. We have to be sensitive to the requirement of these choirs coming in, to offer them the prospect of reasonable accommodation, and for that, we need the assistance of the Motelier’s Association, which support us already. We have to ensure they have adequate rehearsal space when they get here. There was a thing that was floated at the “think-tank” session concerning the use of churches which led to a suggestion, perhaps, we should have a category for church choirs. And all this sort of material from around and aired suggests that we’re on the bring of a choral music explosion.