As a young child growing up in South Africa, Gillian Power sang in school and church choirs.
"It was one of the things I remember from that time as so deeply joyful," Power says.
Now, Power is in her early forties. She came out publicly as transgender in early 2014. Her transition has included voice lessons.
"Many transgender people really struggle with their voice on many levels – their speaking voice, their telephone voice, their radio voice — and especially their singing voice," she says.
Power lives in Johnson County with her wife and two young children. Last year, the Heartland Men’s Chorus asked her to help narrate its spring concert, which was about the modern family (the other narrator was KCUR contributor and guest host Brian Ellison).
Dustin Cates, the artistic director of the Heartland Men's Chorus, was impressed with Powers' performance.
"The perspective she brought, not only as a trans woman with two small children and a wife, but also just this beautiful South African English accent," Cates says, "just drew people in."
Cates has been seeing a lot of interest from around the country in starting transgender choruses. The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles has been supporting the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, which had its first performance at a Transgender Day of Remembrance event in November 2015:
A whole new instrument
In Boston, the Butterfly Music Transgender Chorus is gearing up for performances in April. Power was on a business trip to Boston last fall when she got to meet the Butterfly Chorus artistic director, Sandi Hammond.
Hammond thinks of the trans voice as a whole new instrument.
"Someone who is born male and identifies as male, hits puberty, vocal chords lengthen and thicken, voice box grows, and there’s a space and resonator," she notes.
But people who transition to male later in life don’t have that large voice box, Hammond says.
"It's going to have a different timbre, different color, some of the bottom notes of a bass not appear."
For trans women who take female hormones, the changes aren't as predictable.
For example, Hammond asks, "Why are some able to explore what we would call falsetto in the male voice to develop more female sound and some are not?"
Gillian Power understands this.
"Trans voices really cut across gender binaries," she says. "I can sing as a soprano, but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost my lower ranges. I can still access those lower ranges if I want to and need to."
Finding new voices
Watching the Butterfly Chorus rehearse last fall, Power saw people finding strength in their own and each other's voices.
"I was so deeply moved by what I saw unfolding in Boston, I said, Kansas City needs a chorus too. We can do this. We have voices."
Power put word out to see if anyone was interested. She hoped for maybe 10 people. But in late December, 15 people showed up to the first meeting, almost all of them transgender (joined by a couple of signficant others and allies). As they went around the circle introducing themselves, there was a lot of talent in the room.
Several people had performed in or led church choirs. Others had graduated with degrees in vocal performance and conducting, or composed symphonies. Still others had organizational skills.
That night, the Heartland Trans Chorus became a real thing. They won't be ready to perform for a while, because they want to set up a non-profit and create a chorus that’s part of the arts scene in Kansas City. It’ll be months before they even start rehearsing.
"We’ll have unique challenges that other choruses might not have, with people coming into a space and discovering their voices," Power notes.
The Heartland Men’s Chorus supports the effort. Artistic Director Dustin Cates hasn’t actually heard a trans chorus yet, but he can hear this one in his head.
"I think it will be two things," he says. "One, this is a choir like every other choir: We sing, we’re making music, they’re adding their heart to that. But it will also look like a choir we’ve never seen before."
For Gillian Power, it’s not just about getting to sing again.
"A person’s sense of identity is so inextricably linked to their voice. For a transgender person, establishing their true identity is a considerable undertaking, fraught with perils," she says. "Creating a space where those voices can emerge is profound on many levels."
Those who are eager to hear this new instrument will have to be patient.
For information about the Heartland Trans Chorus, send an email to info@heartlandtranschorus.org.
C.J. Janovy is an arts reporter for KCUR 89.3. You can find her on Twitter, @cjjanovy.
