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Member Perspectives: Lex Brown

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As we prepare for our exciting tour to South Africa next June, we have shared stories from current members who recall chorus friends they lost to AIDS. We will be meeting with groups and individuals in Johannesburg and Cape Town who continue to be effected by the global pandemic, where about 20% of the adult population are fighting the disease and medical help is not always available. The final story is from Baritone Lex Brown, who bravely shares his story of his HIV diagnosis in college and the isolation he felt and the action he’s taken within the poz community. Lex will be traveling to South Africa, serving as a model of an HIV-positive man who is not letting his diagnosis define who he is. ________________________________________________________________________________________ It has taken me a long time to be comfortable revealing that I am HIV positive. I’ve faced shaming from within my family and bullying by students at an Ivy League university who are suppos...
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A Little LGBT History of South Africa

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BGMC's Communications guru and keeper of the public blog, Susan Ryan-Vollmar traveled to the Middle East with BGMC to document the journey and maintained a media archive of that trip.  Susan will be travelling with us  to South Africa and making posts to BGMC's public blog before, during and after the tour regarding our activities.  Susan has c omposed this timeline of LGBT history of South Africa in the last 50 years.   Like the United States, the progress toward LGBT legal and social equality in South Africa has been a long struggle—and it continues to this day, as the country works to combat widespread anti-LGBT discrimination and violence. Here is a timeline of major events in South Africa’s LGBT history: 1907     Taberer Report Published J. Glenn Leary, a magistrate, and Henry M. Taberer, a member of the Native Affairs Department, are tasked with determining levels of “unnatural practices” among African men working in mine compo...
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The ‘Lion King’ Effect: How a Broadway Smash Changed South African Lives

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Adapted from the hit animated film set in the fictional Pride Lands, the stage adaptation is rooted in South Africa by its music, much of it by the composer Lebo M., using South African languages and choral stylings. Almost every cast — and there have been many — has included eight to 12 South Africans among approximately 50 performers. Over the last two decades, 263 South Africans, many with little formal training in singing or acting, have been dispatched all over the planet to “Lion King” productions staged in Dutch, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish. “I felt very strongly that we had to have South Africans in it from the beginning” said t he show’s award-winning director, Julie Taymor while in Durban in June . She was there for a round of auditions, which continued through the summer, to assemble a largely South African-cast tour that will begin in Manila in March 2018 and then set out across Asia. Follow this link below to the ful...
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Remembering A Friend - Bill Williamson

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Editor’s note: As we prepare for our tour to South Africa next June, we are recalling the effect that HIV and AIDS has had on our chorus. We will be meeting with groups and individuals in Johannesburg and Cape Town who continue to be effected by the global pandemic, where about 20% of the adult population are fighting the disease and medical help is not always available. This is the story of former baritone Bill Williamson, whose love of life and passion for the arts is recalled by his dear friend John Strumwasser. John tells a story that takes us from Bill’s first rehearsal in 1982 to his death more than a decade later and even to seeing his family members at concerts in subsequent years. Bill’s story reminds us of how much we as a community and we as a chorus have lost. There was a lot to take in on meeting Bill Williamson the first time, which for me was when he joined the BGMC in 1982, after our first concert. He was very handsome, he loved to laugh and he was warm and...
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South African Literature Recommendations

South Africa has a rich history of literature, much of which deals with the the racial issues that ended in the end of apartheid.  Here is an introduction to South African literature through 10 authors. Most familiar with J.M. Coetzee - 2003 Nobel Prize (Disgrace, and Waiting for the Barbarians) and Nadine Gordimer - 1991 Nobel - her works were banned under apartheid.  https://bnc.lt/gtCg/2epUQ1cGuH .   In addition, here are two special books - one a classic, Nelson Mandela's autobiography, "Long Walk to Freedom" (also a movie); and another autobiography by contemporary comic, Noah Trevor: "Born a crime". I listened to both as audiobooks - the latter read by Trevor Noah - both very entertaining and a profound first hand account of growing up mixed race (a crime) in  apartheid South Africa.  1) Long Walk to Freedom is an autobiographical work written by South African President Nelson Mandela, and first published in 1994 by Little Brown & Co. The b...
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World-Renowned South African Chorus coming to Sanders Theater Feb 13th @ 3pm

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Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a South African male choral group singing in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his 1986 album Graceland, and have won multiple awards, including four Grammy Awards. With the power of gospel and the precision of Broadway, Ladysmith Black Mambazo is the undisputed king of mbube, South African a cappella singing. The group came together in the early 1960s and continues to thrill audiences around the world with its strong, proud melodies harmonized in layers of call and response.They were formed by Joseph Shabalala in 1960 and later became one of South Africa's most prolific recording artists, with their releases receiving gold and platinum disc honours.[1] The group has since become a mobile academy, teaching people about South Africa and its culture. They will be coming to Boston to perform at the Sanders Theater in Harvard Square,  Cambridge on Sunday, February 13th...
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Let's Raise A Glass!

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Tour Committee member and frequent South Africa visitor Ed Nardell gives some of his recommendations regarding South African wines.  Can't wait to try some of these while we are there!  Enjoy! On South African Wines It must have been 20 years ago when I first experienced fine South African wines at a restaurant called, Cento, not far from the Jo'burg airport. It was owned by a husband and wife team who had farms outside the city and offered varied cuisine, including mud crabs from Zimbabwe, various game meats - antelope such as springbok - and traditional as well as European fare.  As is the custom in many good restaurants, there is no menu.  The executive chef (obviously not tied to the kitchen) comes to the table to recite the menu of the day.  Once that was done, the wife in this case took us down to the basement wine cellar to choose a wine from thousands of bottles cellared there for years.  We chose a cabernet to go with some meat dishes...
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