The first installment of Choral Society (For…) took place in San Francisco at Ampersand International Arts in the spring of 2008. It was part of a series of performances where I select a person that I appreciate and admire to form a choir of their loved ones to sing them their favorite song.

The initial motivation for this series of performances came from an experience I had the previous fall when I attended the funeral service for my friend's grandmother. During the service the pastor led the entire service in singing her favorite song. It was an incredibly moving and beautiful experience having all of those people who loved and respected her in her life together in this room singing for her. I thought it was tragic that we did not think to do this for her before her passing. It was at that point that I decided to celebrate people I cared about in this way.

For Artcity I selected Wednesday Lupypciw as the subject of this performance. Wednesday’s selected song was Madonna’s “Into the Groove.”

(photo credit Marc Hutchinson)