In this newsletter you will find: - Various Voices 2026: View and Vote - Barcelona or Brussels
- General Meeting 2021
- Change of Articles
- Various Voices Bologna 2023: Choir registration opens
- News from San Francisco: Dr. Tim Seelig is going to retire
- New member choir: Punch Art Choir from Belgium
- Dates: Share your concerts
- Last: Join our mailing list
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The Board is very excited to open the next stage in the selection process for the host city of Various Voices 2026. We now all get the chance to view the bids from Brussels and Barcelona. |
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View: - Read and share the bid document.
- Look at the video to complement the bid.
- Review the scores of the Legato Various Voices Team.
- Refer to the Call for Bids and Legato's Choirs Support Policy
- View the bids here: https://www.legato-choirs.com/variousvoices2026
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Vote: - A link to the vote will be sent to each Legato member choir.
- Once your choir is ready to vote please score both bids 1 to 5 (5 being the highest).
- Each choir may only submit their votes once, if more than one set of votes is cast we will only count the most recent votes cast.
- The voting opens on 1st August and closes on 31st August 2021.
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Your vote link will be sent to your choir’s email address registered with Legato.
If you do not receive your link (please check your SPAM file) or wish to amend your formal email please write to membership@legato-choirs.com. |
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The host city for Various Voices 2026 will be announced by December 2021 and there will be a handover ceremony in Bologna in 2023. Both our bidding teams have worked immensely hard to offer us all the best experience for 2026 and we thank them for contributing to our mission. Enjoy! |
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Barcelona, the Mediterranean's proudest city is getting ready to welcome Various Voices singers from all over Europe in 2026! Barcelona Rainbow Singers and Barcelona Gay Men's Chorus united in harmony and created a joint candidacy with the motto: Singing Together. Dreaming Together. These two choirs, with 11 and 6 years of experience respectively, dream of enchanting Legato members and singers with a proposal uniting organizational excellence and creative emotion in equal measures. In the capable hands of a first-class artistic and technical team, the backing of city hall among other local and national administrations, and the support of important figures in activism, tourism, culture and commerce, Barcelona, with diversity its banner wants the world to experience our enormously welcoming city in the best way possible, through choral singing. Various Voices Barcelona 2026 will bring music to some of the most renowned, emblematic venues the city has to offer as well as to less well known areas of the city; to neighbourhoods where more LGTBIQ+ visibility is needed, or to places with symbolic significance for our collective, tracing a pathway with an historic and identity defining narrative. Milestone events such as the 1992 Olympic Games, the 2008 EuroGames or the most multitudinous Mediterranean Pride celebrations influence the spirit of the proposal, which will honour the past with references such as Freddy Mercury, in a unique, never seen before event. We aim to leave an indelible legacy in the city, its inhabitants and its visitors. Our dream is that Barcelona city & Legato can experience this project in which music, activism, technology, coexistence, values and, above all, passion, are fused together in a perfect melody. We invite you to come and dream with us! Various Voices, Barcelona 2026 is waiting for you! |
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Brussels is an open-minded city, in a country always at the forefront of LGBTQ+ rights and ranked second in the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Index 2021. By singing together in the capital of Europe’s 500 million citizens, we’ll deliver a powerful message and a strong signal aimed at countries where our community faces repeated attacks. Various Voices Brussels 2026 will be a joyful festival, with plenty of time for leisure and sharing. But why should we wait until 2026 to have fun with our friends? As soon as Various Voices Bologna 2023 is over, we’ll start involving all Legato choir members in the creative process of the 2026 festival. We will twin choirs for online rehearsals or live collaborations. We will create together the main shows of the festival through virtual meetings to select repertoire, share scores or write scripts. Two shows will play with Belgian culture and stereotypes in a fun way: “Kings & Queens of Belgium'' because Belgium is a kingdom, and we want to make it a Queerdom; and »The Treachery of Images« to look beyond appearances, like in the Belgian surrealist painter Magritte’s artwork. The culmination of the festival will be the “Let Your Heart Be Heard” night, outdoors near the European Parliament. This concert will illustrate our history and the fight for our rights. At the end, we will together perform a giant LGBTQ+ choral work composed for the festival. Various Voices Brussels 2026 will also be a festival committed to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals: socially, environmentally and economically sustainable; inclusive; accessible; with zero carbon footprint. So, where is the best place for the next festival? In Brussels, of course! Let’s work together to create the most amazing festival ever! Sing Out Brussels! (The Fabulous Queer Choir) cannot wait to welcome you to the vibrant heart of Europe, and help you discover the fabulous welcome and warmth of its residents! |
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General Meeting 2021 The board is discussing the arrangement and dates for the AGM. Details are to be announced soon. |
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Change of Articles The articles of association need to be changed to allow us to organise votes and meetings virtually and in person. We will share the details shortly. |
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Various Voices Bologna 2023 |
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News: »Sing what I am«
Choir registration opens in January 2022. Let's make this the most exciting festival to date and celebrate our love of music in Bologna 14-18 June 2023!
A celebration of LGBTQ+ choirs and musicians from Europe and all over the world, singing and performing in the beautiful ancient Bologna, UNESCO City of Music.
Get your choirs excited, start your fundraising and mark up your calendars! |
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San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Artistic Director & Conductor Dr. Tim Seelig to retire after Season 44. Tim led the "Sing for the Cure" event and concert at London Various Voices and introduced the Spring Affair 2021 – a good friend to Legato Choirs. We wish him well as he begins a new chapter. | | |
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We welcome a new member to Legato! |
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Punch Art Choir from Belgium, a SATB choir with 30 singers. PUNCH ART is a collective of amateur and professional artists, all passionate about the performing arts and singing. With improvisation as a driving force, the creation of the jazz choir seemed to be the most logical consequence. Through this choir we want to promote openness and integration on human and LGBTI+ rights, among other themes. We refuse any form of discrimination. By bringing choral singing within everyone's reach, PUNCH ART wishes, through its repertoire, its shows, its organization, its activities, to develop conviviality, as well as the taste for solidarity, mutual aid, cooperation, while promoting the well-being, development, expression of creativity and talents of each individual. | | |
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Are you longing to perform in front of real people instead of your laptop screen, coffee mug or cat? Tell us more about your upcoming concerts! In quite a few parts of Europe it’s possible to meet again and even have open-air concerts. | | |
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We would love to stay in contact with you! Please join our mailing list (or following the link to our website). Please share with your singing friends to receive news about upcoming events, new choirs and Legato’s exciting plans to support its members. | | |
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Board:
Juancho Almenara, Martin Brophy, Misza Czerniak, Martin Gerrits, Dominik K. Jakob, Dr. Petra Pechaček, Annette Zahl Registered as a charitable association under German law, registration court: Mannheim, registration nr.: VR 102885. |
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