The
experience on Monday, the fifth day of our tour, actually started the evening
of the fourth day. On Sunday, we spent most of the day on a bus from Lviv to
Kyiv. After arriving in the capital of Ukraine, we got right to work.
Sunday
night, we were invited to the home of the Consular General to meet local LGBTQ
activists, Embassy staff, and the Qwerty Queer Chorus
from Odessa. We were to workshop and perform with Qwerty the next day, and
this was a chance to connect more socially. Cocktails turned into a friendly
“sing off,” and it was love at first song. What was most remarkable about
Qwerty was the guttural strength and power that emerged from the small
ensemble. Only six of the sixteen singers were able to travel to Kyiv this
week, and I heard more life experience in their voices than I was prepared for.
Knowing nothing about the singers themselves, and nearly nothing about Odessa,
I was hearing their life stories measure by measure.
The
next morning was scheduled and coveted free time. Some of the group took a walking
tour of Kyiv with one of our new friends we had met the night prior. For me, this
much needed re-energizing time as I took my own walkabout. I spent a great deal
of my childhood walking through old churches with my parents, and apparently
it’s a hard habit to quit. St. Sophia is one of the more famous churches in
Kyiv, dating back to the 11th century. But since this isn’t a travel
blog, suffice it to say you should see it if you’re in Kyiv.
We
spent the rest of the day at Queer Home Kyiv, the local LGBT center. I don’t
know if it’s for safety or due to lack of funds, but the center is located in a
hard-to-find back alley partial basement. Once you enter, the space is
remarkably big, with unmatched donated furniture, protest posters on the wall,
and an oft-used coffee maker. Here we ate lunch with Qwerty. The romance was
timid at first, but both choruses quickly fell hard when we began sharing our
history, warm up techniques, and repertoire with each other.
In
the weeks leading up to this tour, the Embassy had suggested that we check out
the song Chervona Ruta. It’s an anthem of Ukraine, and it’s beautiful. We added
our own spin to it with vocal percussion – a technique that immediately caught
the ear of Qwerty. Workshopping this anthem with Qwerty was powerful, and there
was a feeling of long lost kinship the entire afternoon. Performing it together
later that evening at a celebration of International Day Against Homophobia at
the Dutch Embassy solidified the deal. GMCW will always have a bond with the
Qwerty Queer Chorus of Odessa. You can read more
about Qwerty here.
Chervona Ruta - GMCW + Qwerty Queer Chorus
Dutch Embassy in Kyiv