Mixed Emotions -- In `Reprise,' Seattle Men's Chorus Sings With Sadness And Gladness

In every group there's a time to rejoice, and a time to mourn.

For the Seattle Men's Chorus, the time for both will be this weekend, when the group performs a set of concerts called ``Reprise'' in Meany Theater.

The concerts, at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday (tickets at 323-2992), celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 150-member chorus, which has been conducted since 1981 by Dennis Coleman.

They also mourn the loss of 19 - nineteen - members of the chorus to AIDS, which claimed two more members within the past two weeks. (Some other choruses have even grimmer statistics; the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus has lost about 40 percent of its membership.)

``It's staggering,'' says Coleman, who adds that the all-gay Seattle group is determined to go forward with a positive attitude: ``This concert is going to have a lot of light music and a lot of funny stuff, as well as the more serious moments. And there'll be some surprises.''

Just off a concert tour of Dallas' new Meyerson Symphony Hall and Boston's Symphony Hall, the group has been polishing the concert material that will be heard in Seattle.

``We're singing even better than normal,'' jokes Coleman, adding that the chorus will take advantage of this by recording the concert for compact disc and tape. Later this season, KCTS-TV (Channel 9) will tape the June 23-30 concerts, which re-create a 1940s radio program, for broadcast at a later date. The chorus' previous ventures in television have been with the KTZZ-Channel 22 broadcasts of the popular Christmas concerts.

Coleman calls the upcoming ``Reprise'' concerts ``the ideal first concert for listeners who are new to us,'' because there's something for everyone: Copland's ``Old American Songs,'' Ellington's ``Mood Indigo,'' Scott Warrender's ``Eulogy,'' a series of 1940s classics (such as ``Mr. Sandman'' and ``Hit Me With a Hot Note''), and ``Over the Rainbow.''

The second-largest gay men's chorus in the country, the Seattle group decided from the start that musical issues (rather than social or political ones) were its primary focus. That's why it isn't called the Seattle Gay Men's Chorus, in the manner of most of the other groups in the coast-to-coast network uniting gay and lesbian choruses.

Coleman's hard work with the group has brought astonishing dividends, especially considering that many in the Seattle Men's Chorus have little previous musical background. The chorus' concerts are of an extremely high standard, not only artistically but technically (most events include staging, lighting, costuming and other details). With an avid following that extends well beyond the gay community, the chorus seldom is able to satisfy the demand for concert tickets; sellouts are the general rule.

Coleman also has brought a great deal of new music to light, including commissioned works involving such figures as Gian Carlo Menotti, Ned Rorem, Lou Harrison and Mark Morris. Among the guest artists the chorus has invited are singers Marni Nixon and Tatiana Troyanos.

Next on the list of commissions is a choral work by the noted American composer John Corigliano, whose first symphony was recently performed to impressive reviews in Chicago. The third movement of that symphony is the thematic basis for the new Seattle commission for men's chorus, mezzo-soprano and boychoir, and it will be premiered here next March.

In the meantime, Coleman is busy shaping up a community chorus of 600 voices to sing for the opening of the Goodwill Games, July 21 in Husky Stadium - an event involving the Red Army Chorus, military bands and singers of all kinds. The prospect fills Coleman with glee.

``All those singers, and what diversity! The event will be televised,'' says Coleman, ``and I think it should highlight choral music in this area as never before. I'm extremely excited about it.''