The Columbus Gay Men鈥檚 Chorus (CGMC) is celebrating its 35th anniversary and Pride Month with its 鈥�35-N-Thrivin'鈥� concert this weekend.
All of the music performed in the show was written and performed by well-known LGBTQ+ artists before they turned 35. The concert will include songs by Janelle Monae, Nemo, George Michael, Ned Rorem, Tracy Chapman, Chappell Roan, Ricky Martin and Elton John.
CGMC has anniversary shows for all its milestone anniversaries.
Brayton Bollenbacher, CGMC's artistic director, makes the major decisions involving the chorus' song choices, props, sets and choreography.
Putting together a concert like this is a long process for Bollenbacher, who starts by developing a theme and finding songs to bookend the performance. He considers musical relevancy, diversity, meaning, genre and licensing when searching for the right songs.
鈥淚 think as we wrap up Pride Month, and during such a difficult time when we are seeing legislators trying to attack LGBTQ rights, I think that finding the community that we have is so important right now,鈥� Bollenbacher said.
He added, 鈥淎nd being able to really focus on the community鈥檚 ability to change and to love and this concert really allows us to do that, and it highlights a lot of queer musicians that I think a lot of people didn't realize were queer.鈥�
CGMC鈥檚 large chorus has around 140 members and performs three concerts per year. With its two smaller ensembles, Vox and Illuminati, and youth chorus, The Columbus Queerscendos, they typically have six concerts per season.
The 鈥�35-N-Thrivin'鈥� concerts will happen Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Riffe Center's Davidson Theatre.