Singin’ for change

The 1950s might seem like an odd era to mine for material in support of gay rights. But an area lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender chorus thinks singing tunes from your grandpas’s sock hop is a perfect way to entertain for a good cause.

Starting March 8, Confluence: Willamette Valley LGBT Chorus will begin its newest show, “At the Hop!,” a production that makes a seemingly odd-couple combination of bygone pop hits from the 1950s and LGBT singers.

The show, which will tour three of Oregon’s biggest cities, will also help collect signatures for the group Basic Rights Oregon, which is supporting a proposed ballot measure that will legalize same-sex marriage in the state.

Now in its 13th season, Confluence has come a long way from its humble beginnings. Originally starting with only nine singers in its first year, the chorus has since grown to 40 or 50 singers.

“We just keep getting bigger and bigger,” said Susie D’Anna, the vice president of Confluence’s board.

The chorus tours Salem, Portland and Corvallis three times per season: once in December for Christmas-themed shows, in March with productions that are more varied in artistic style—like this season’s ’50s show—and in June to celebrate Gay Pride Month.

Confluence’s artistic director, Ray Elliott, a Portland State alumnus who graduated in 2007 with a music degree, said that the chorus felt inspired by the ’50s doo-wop era.

“I asked what the chorus wanted to do,” Elliot said, and the chorus chose music that was once popular and is still familiar.

Elliot knows that it’s difficult for small, community choruses to stay competitive, though Confluence relishes the chance to do just that.

“It’s a challenge to stay afloat,” Elliot said, though he added that he’s been pleased with the season and audience reaction thus far. “Hopefully they are going to get a kick out of [the show].”

Sam Sappington, who has been a singer with the chorus since its first season, in 2000, said that in the previous season Confluence had performed songs from the ’70s and that some members of the chorus wanted to continue the theme this season with a new decade.

He thinks that the young people of this generation, many of whom have never been exposed to ’50s-era music, would feel a connection with it, calling to mind the era of American Bandstand, Elvis Presley and the birth of rock ’n’ roll.

Sappington feels the chorus did a “good job of capturing some of the stuff that spoke to young people back in the ’50s.”

Sappington and the other chorus members are in high spirits for this season and take pride in Confluence’s diversity, both in its singers and its target audience. He refers to the chorus’ eclectic makeup and taste in sound as “one big moving flow of music.”

Confluence’s members are cautiously optimistic about the more political purpose of the tour, the upcoming ballot measure.

Elliott said that the show and its artistic decisions were not directly inspired by the politics surrounding the upcoming ballot measure regarding same-sex marriage in Oregon but said, “If it helps, that’s great.”

Sappington, however, was more enthusiastic about the political aspects of the event.

“We’re always trying to do what we can to get the message out there [to] try to be a voice for the gay rights movement,” Sappington said. “This particular concert does not speak to this message specifically—[it] doesn’t have a political message.”

As far as the music goes, Confluence is simply hoping to get attendees to “remember some good music from that particular decade,” according to Sappington.

Sappington remains hopeful: Though a 2004 ballot measure updated the state constitution by mandating that marriage is strictly between a man and a woman, he feels that times have changed.

“There’s been a huge shift in cultural thinking since then,” Sappington said.