Tone Cluster celebrates 20 years

Ottawa’s Tone Cluster is inviting Centretown to celebrate its 20 years as “quite a queer” choir at its anniversary concert event Feb. 9.

The festivities at First Baptist Church will feature some of the members’ favourite classics, a bit of brand new material and some pieces with guest directors, according to Tone Cluster founder Liz Benjamin.

“We mostly sing all different types of music that we like and we have a wonderful time doing that,” she says. “It doesn’t feel that it’s been this long because it’s been so much fun.”

The now 30-member mix of straight and GLBTQ singers began as a nameless, eight-member gay choir in 1994, according to Benjamin. She says she and her friend Brian Cameron were singing in separate choirs and were dissatisfied.

“We were not having as much fun as we’d hoped and we said, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to get some gay and lesbian people together to sing?”’ says Benjamin. “So that’s what we did.”

The choir’s goals are to continuously improve its music as well as contribute to the queer community, says Benjamin. She says they started working with GLBTQ organizations 10 years ago to help promote awareness and support.

“We think that even just existing as a queer choir is very important for the community because there could be people who come to our concerts who have never gone to anything in the gay and lesbian community, and here’s something where they can just be there and be comfortable,” says Benjamin.

According to the group’s president Andrew Sacret, the choir tries to find a few things it can commit to every year. Some of the organizations the group has partnered with include Pink Triangle Services, the Aids Walk for Life, and the Nepean High School choir.

“It really is important for us to show that we are part of the (GLBTQ) community in Ottawa and all that that means,” says Sacret.

Jeff Morrison, of  the Centretown Community Health Centre, says groups such as Tone Cluster provide a great opportunity for gay individuals to socialize with their peers.

“Tone Cluster specifically provides them with a great opportunity to come together to increase the vibrancy of our community and, of course, they’re doing something they love and people really appreciate that. It’s a great organization.”

Socialization and acceptance in a community is extremely important from a health perspective, says Morrison. He says these types of social groups help build a strong, healthy community.

“The opportunity it provides people to interact, to get to know each other, and to form stronger relationships has been invaluable,” says Morrison, “and I’m speaking personally here.”

He says he was able to meet a lot of great friends when he helped form Centretown’s gay baseball league. He also works with a variety of GLBTQ-specific programs at the health centre.

The Ottawa Senior Pride Network is one of CCHC’s largely volunteer-run organizations trying to build a strong, vibrant, older queer community, says Cathy Collett, chairperson of the organization. She says Tone Cluster is a great organization for singers in the GLBTQ community.

“It’s a wonderful option to be able to sing in a group that’s largely made up of (GLBTQ) people that are out and proud, as well as a number of allies that are comfortable and happy to be in a group identified as a queer group,” she says.

Tone Cluster has continued to broaden its musical range, member diversity and partnerships over the years, says Sacret. He says he and other members hope to continue to expand and work with others in the community.

“It’s a self-strengthening network,” he says. “When some of our institutions are doing well, it means we can feed off of that positive energy and emerge out of the shadows.”