Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus celebrate very special anniversary year

It’s a massive year ahead in 2025 for Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus as they celebrate their 20th anniversary.

Transcript

00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Really lovely

00:06to speak to Simon Watts this morning. And Simon, we're chatting about a really significant

00:11landmark for Brighton Gay Men's Chorus. The Gay Men's Chorus in Brighton is 20 years old

00:17in 2025. And the lovely thing is you're embarking on that anniversary, that big moment, in great

00:23health, aren't you? You've had a lot of new members in 2024, and you are planning great

00:29things.

00:30We're going from strength to strength. So we're now 130 members strong. It's the biggest

00:35we've ever been. We've literally just performed our Christmas show at Brighton Dome this weekend.

00:42We were 93 members on stage, which is our biggest performance ever.

00:48So why are things going so well?

00:49We had a fantastic audience at the Brighton Dome, which was phenomenal.

00:52Why are things going so well? I know you were talking about the outreach work you do, it's

00:56crucial.

00:57We're not just a singing group. The chorus sings very great for people's health, and

01:08we get a lot of benefit from collective music making with our fellow members. But we're

01:15a lot more than that. We are a community group. We support each other. We're a safe space

01:20for LGBTQ men to come together and engage in each other's company, build friendships

01:29and bonds. But we also do a lot of outreach work. We support our local community within

01:35Brighton and Hove, both the LGBTQIA plus community, but also the non-LGBTQIA plus community. And

01:44we have a load of activities planned for our 20th anniversary year.

01:4920 events.

01:502025, we will be 20. And so to mark the occasion, we will be doing 20 events and shows throughout

01:59the course of the year to sort of highlight our past, our heritage, what we've achieved

02:07both for ourselves, but also for our local community and charity partners, because we

02:12do raise money for local charities as well. But also to explain what we are, who we are

02:18and where we're going in the future. So we're planning 20 events throughout the year, which

02:24will comprise our core shows in May, July and December, but also we'll be participating

02:33in hopefully performing at some of the Pride events throughout the South Coast. And we're

02:38also looking at building a legacy for the next 20 years. We're looking at things such

02:44as partnering with youth organisations to maybe establish a youth choir. So we're very excited.

02:53I'd say you should be. It's an exciting moment. Congratulations on the landmark and good luck

02:59with all the ways that you're going to celebrate. Lovely to speak to you, Simon. Thank you.

03:02Thank you very much.