Chorus Takes Audiences "Bach to the Future"

The posters advertising the Gay Men's Chorus of South Florida's upcoming concert, "Bach to the Future," may feature a DeLorean, but audiences won't need a souped up sports car created by a mad scientist to take an exciting musical journey next week.

Artistic Director Gordon Roberts has planned a program that spans nearly four centuries that is not only challenging for his 140-voice chorus, but will be entertaining for listeners.

"Our audiences will be pleased to find just how much fun and musically thrilling the evening will be," promises Roberts, who has programmed many familiar selections, including "The Toreador Song" from Bizet's opera, "Carmen," the famous "Pilgrims' Chorus" by German composer Richard Wagner, and "O Fortuna," from Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana."

Roberts says he sometimes refers to the program as "Music You Didn't Know You Love," because the music is so frequently used in the soundtracks of feature films and television commercials.

Roberts is eager to prove wrong the notion that South Florida audiences aren't interested in classics-oriented programs, "that our audiences are really looking for light entertainment and do not want to be challenged with what is considered 'serious' programming."

The chorus will also feature a 9-piece orchestra to accompany works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Leonard Bernstein, Franz Joseph Haydn and Giulio Caccini. The program will open with contemporary British composer John Rutter's "Gloria."

And, in addition to classics of the choral repertoire, Roberts has also programmed selections that some may not think of as "classical," including several lively spirituals, the old English sea shanty, "What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor," and two tongue-in-cheek pieces written in madrigal style and appropriately titled, "fagricals."

Advance tickets are selling fast for the chorus' three performances and the shows are expected to sell out.

Bach to the Future
Gay Men's Chorus of South Florida
Friday and Saturday, March 30-31, 8 p.m.,
Sunday, April 1, 3 p.m.
Sunshine Cathedral, 1480 SW 9th St., Fort Lauderdale
Tickets $30 at GMCSF.org.