All-inclusive choir Spectrum Singers gives everyone a voice

When Spectrum Singers declares on their website that they’re all-inclusive, they mean it. The Spokane choir features singers of all sexual orientations and gender identities and their allies, as well as those of all races, colors, national origins, abilities (physical and musical), ages and religions.

“This is a space where people from all walks of life can find validation, solidarity and celebration,” the choir announces on its website.

In its second season, the choir is led by Josh Shank, who teaches music theory, composition and music history at Gonzaga University and conducts the school’s men’s chorus. He decided to apply after the choir’s first artistic director, Mitch Davey, left Spokane for graduate school.

“Our mission is something that is really important to me – giving voice to communities that don’t necessarily have a voice,” he said. “I’m a member of the LGBT community. My husband sings in the choir.”

Spectrum Singers is a non-auditioned choir, which means anyone can join. Shank is proud of the diversity this format brings to the group. “We’re more diverse than Spokane itself, which I think is a real asset for us because we have a lot of different voices and life stories to help enrich our little musical community,” he said.

Spectrum Singers has doubled in size, from about 35 singers in its first season to nearly 80, proving to Shank that there was an underserved community in need of a musical outlet. “There was a need for this,” he said. “Our initial board manifested it last year, and people saw an opportunity to join another family.”

Spectrum has two main performances, one in the fall and one in the spring, and several outreach performances per season. This year, the choir has performed at events including Unity in the Community, the Spokane AIDS Walk and the national convention of Veterans for Peace.

Spectrum Singers will present “Still Standing: Songs of Protest and Hope,” the first main performance of its second season, at Spokane Falls Community College on Saturday.

During the concert, Spectrum Singers will perform choral pieces and solo numbers. Pieces in the concert will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and pay tribute to the thousands of men who died during the AIDS crisis.

A choir member will sing a song from the Disney/Pixar film “Coco” in Spanish, his native language, and the group will perform a piece from the film “The Greatest Showman.”

The concert’s title is a reference to the Elton John song on the program, “I’m Still Standing,” and Spectrum Singers also will perform “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around,” a protest song by Sam Cooke.

“(The song) has a simple title and fits right in with Spectrum’s mission, which is ‘A change is going to come,’ ” Shank said. “We’re excited to work to be part of that change.”

Looking ahead, Shank said the choir is teaming up with the Gonzaga University Chamber Choir and the Spokane Kantorei Choir for its spring performance.

The trio of choirs will present an event titled “Considering Matthew Shepard” in honor of the college student who was murdered in 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming, because he was gay.

The choir is part of a series of events or discussions around Shepard and what he represents and includes a talk from his mother, Judy Shepard, at Gonzaga about two weeks after the performance.

Shank said he and the choir are lucky to be presenting the piece and sharing their voices at the same time. “It’s an opportunity for the Spectrum Singers to get in that dialogue and have our story be a part of it and hopefully help some things,” he said.