Artistic Director: “I am extremely proud of our growth and all we have accomplished leading up to our closing concert at the Ryman Auditorium on December 29.”
2,000 gather for a memorial service to honor the student’s life
2,000 gather for a memorial service to honor the student’s life
For decades, LGBTQ+ choirs have provided inspiring entertainment for their cities while providing a place of hope and belonging for LGBTQ+ individuals.
In the early 2000s, a committee of First Unitarian Universalist Church in Nashville went to Association of Gay and Lesbian Choirs (GALA) To explore starting a new choir in Nashville. Soon after, Nashville In Harmony (NIH) was born with 17 charter members.
NIH has grown significantly under the leadership of former Artistic Director Don Schlosser, who took the group to distinguished venues throughout the Southeast. In 2015, after the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality, many questioned whether the group had completed its mission. However, marriage equality is only part of the puzzle regarding LGBTQIA+ liberalization in Tennessee. Our organization still has more work to do.
Legislation against the LGBTQ community is why the National Institutes of Health is still needed
In the early years of the NIH, members did not share more personal details about their lives. Their gender identity or sexual orientation was concealed as a precaution, as many were not at their workplace or with their families.
Some might be tempted to say that today, 20 years later, this seems like an outdated issue, but even in 2024, we have many members who feel they can only “break out” within the safety of our organization.
I’ve had many conversations with well-meaning people about why we need an organization like the National Institutes of Health. While the representation of members of the LGBTQ community in the media and public has actually risen, the number of anti-LGBTQ bills is also high, especially here in Tennessee.
the Tennessee Equality Project He counted 24 discriminatory bills introduced for the 2024 legislative session alone. These bills ranged from banning books with LGBTQ characters or material to creating new marriage licenses reserved only for opposite-sex couples.
Moreover, with the constant threat Project 2025Many of our members are turning to lawyers, and some are considering moving elsewhere.
Recently we have sung to mourn loss and celebrate joy
In the midst of all this, NIH’s twentieth year was a year of celebratory highs and sobering lows. While our members came together to sing at Carnegie Hall, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, and the Parthenon Museum, we also had to come together to mourn.
This included a vigil for Nix Benedicta non-binary student from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was assaulted in his school bathroom and later ended his life, and a musical tribute to MTSU transfer student Serenity Birdsongwho also took her life. I maintain that these tributes were some of the most important songs we performed on our 20th anniversary. While the world He has It has changed, and the need for this organization has not changed.
I assumed the position of Artistic Director in July 2020 in the midst of a global pandemic that reduced our organization to 44 associate members. Today, we have 115 active adult chanters, 30 members of the Junior Youth Choir, and 65 members of the new NIH Pride Band. I am so proud of our growth and everything we have accomplished leading up to our closing ceremony at Ryman Auditorium on December 29. However, all of that pales in comparison to the way we live out our mission behind the scenes.
For 20 years, we’ve been using music to build community and create social change. We have sung by people’s bedsides in nursing homes, marched in the streets for equality, volunteered with other non-profit organizations, attended each other’s weddings and funerals, and let each other be who we were created to be. There is still a lot of work to be done, and we are just getting started. That’s why we sing.
Rev. Wesley King, M.A., serves as artistic director of Nashville at Harmony.
