NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — When a local chorus began performing together twenty years ago, they knew they were a first of their kind in Nashville. What they didn't know was how much history they would witness over the years. They've just celebrated an anniversary in grand style.
Before the big show Sunday night, there was just enough time for one last rehearsal. You want to be at your best when you're performing in a place that's played host to greats of music.
The history was felt by Rodger Murray.
"You ever done an interview with Johnny Cash?" I asked Rodger, as he sat in front of a giant poster of Cash in a dressing room.
"No, I haven't!" he laughed.
"Elvis Presley is over your shoulder," he said, gesturing to a picture on another wall. "This is a remarkable place to be performing tonight."
On a stage rehearsing a Christmas song mash-up was Nashville In Harmony, a chorus involving the LGBTQ+ community and allies. The venue was the mother church, the Ryman. The city's changed a lot since the chorus was created in 2004. Footage of that year's Pride festival shows a much smaller crowd than what the event has drawn in more recent years.
"At that time, not a lot of people would attend Pride, cause I guess they were afraid to be seen there," Rodger said. "The Nashville Unitarian Universalist Church decided they wanted to start a chorus that involved the LGBTQ+ community and their allies. They had a booth. They had people sign up to audition."
Rodger is an original member from when Nashville In Harmony had roughly 20 singers. Over 20 years, it has grown.
"We're singing about 120 singers tonight," Rodger said. "We do have a lot of straight people that sing in our chorus that are allies."
Artistic director Wesley King said there's something powerful about standing in front of so many people pouring their life stories into every word they sing.
"It's a spiritual experience," he said. "I get to look into the eyes of people who are singing their hearts out. I know that they mean every word. They couldn't be themselves if they didn't do this."
The people on stage said they can feel that too.
"There's something about singing and heartbeats getting in sync," smiled Lex Buglio. "To be able to share that and hear our voices echoed off the walls, it's blessed."
"Each time you sing in a choir, there's nothing else like it," added past chorus president Brittany Jordan. "We don't just sing together. We talk about our stories. It's just a really magical feeling."
Remembering those first days of Nashville In Harmony, Rodger said it's quite something to see the crowds coming in for this 20th anniversary show.
"Oh, it's exciting. Very, very exciting," he said. "To have other people around excited to see and hear us makes it all very worthwhile."
"I never thought that this year, I'd be singing at the Ryman," Lex said. "Yeah, I'm bringing my A game tonight! Growing up and not having any sense of community, 'Does anybody feel the way I do?' We can lean on each other a little easier nowadays."
"I hope that continues forever," Brittany added.
"We're here for everyone," Rodger said. "We have an open table for everyone."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
This story by Aaron Cantrell reminds me of my first school in Dyersburg, TN. I was a student at Bruce School from Kindergarten to second grade until the school system was integrated. My parents graduated from this K-12 school in 1960 in one of the city's African American communities. After sitting empty for several years, part of the school was demolished while the rest was renovated and now serves as a community center for the Bruce community in Dyersburg. A local pastor is now trying to do something similar in the Cemetery community in Rutherford Co.
-Lelan Statom
