‘It’s magical’: Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus singing together again – KCRA Sacramento

California’s reopening this week has many organizations coming together for the first time since March of last year. The Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus, a mainstay in our area’s LGBTQ+ and performing arts communities, is singing as a group once again after a year-and-three-month-long hiatus. Thirty fully vaccinated members of the 80-member chorus said they were grateful to gather for a practice Thursday night.”It’s magical when we all sing and we are expressing ourselves and you kind of hit this great chord,” said member Joe Engle. “It’s an amazing feeling.”Early in the pandemic, SGMC realized it couldn’t hold productive practice sessions over video call with members all having different internet speeds and acoustics in their homes.The group, however, remained committed to staying connected.”Instead of having an actual rehearsal, we would just get together and watch either a movie, and now it’s morphed into just kind of Thursday chats,” said SGMC board of directors vice president Chris Huber of the group’s every-other-Thursday online group video call/movie nights.Those video meetups were a lifeline for members accustomed to gathering for practices every Thursday and Sunday for many years with a group that they consider a family.”It was instrumentally huge for them,” said Huber. “It gave them an opportunity to still connect and check in with people.”The supportive community was particularly meaningful for Engle, who was hit hard by the virus. Engle got COVID-19 last June.He credits his fellow SGMC members with helping him get through a week-long stay in the ICU and the months of recovery he endured — hooked up to oxygen.”Sitting in there in the hospital bed trying to sing something, trying to get something out of my voice.” Engle explained. “Nothing would happen.”In that challenging time, he said, SGMC members supported him and checked in with him each step of the way.According to SGMC members, that’s what their organization is all about, which makes them all the more thankful to now be joining their voices, shoulder to shoulder, in the same space.”I have many, many brothers, sisters in this group that I will know, and love, and be a part of their lives forever,” said Huber. “Coming back, for me, it’s really been kind of a rejoining of that family again.”SGMC is looking forward to resuming its season later this summer.They plan to start holding their two major shows a year — one around the holidays, another in the spring.