Invisible Rainbows

The Fourth Choir, conducted by Jamie Powe

with Special Guest, cabaret legend Barb Jungr

Following two sold-out runs of James Joyce’s The Dead, London’s classical queer choir returns to Wilton’s to explore modern classics from the jazz and pop worlds of the ‘50s to the ‘80s.

How did queer artists express their innermost feelings at a time when just a rumour that an artist was queer was enough to destroy their careers or even lead to a visit from the police? The hit song “Have I the Right to Hold You?” sold a million copies worldwide in 1964 but do the lyrics reveal deeper meanings when we know that the writers, Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, were both gay men? Did Bowie really release a song as early as 1966 about a trans man joining the army? Did Rod Stewart’s song about a murdered gay friend really stay in the UK charts for ten weeks in 1976? And how did queer artists respond to the AIDS crisis?

The Fourth Choir is delighted that the concert will include a guest appearance by cabaret legend Barb Jungr (“one of the very best nightclub singers in the world” Time Out, New York).

Barb and The Fourth Choir will be paying tribute to queer artists and their allies who found ways during deeply homophobic times for voices expressing queer emotions to emanate from the country’s radios and record-players, like invisible… life-enhancing… rainbows.

“Everything sounded flawless…a performance that resonated deeply” ★★★★★ Trouw (Dutch national newspaper)