Matthew Schulte joined the HMC Board in 2015.
He is also a member of the Kansas City Royals Family. Matthew started with the Royals 10 years ago in the front office. While he started out in the Ticket Sales department, he has spent most of his time in various roles within the Marketing team. He now serves as the Senior Manager of Special Events and Promotions and is responsible for the giveaway items and special ballpark events. He was involved in executing MLB Jewel events that the Royals hosted, including the 2012 All-Star Game Festivities, 2014 Postseason, and the 2015 World Championship.
He was also a member of the Kansas City Chamber’s Centurions Leadership Program and received an ACE Diversity Award from this same Chamber.
Two Gay Men’s Choruses Honor Legacy of Harvey Milk
/in Press ReleaseWritten by Tony® and Grammy Award® nominated composer Andrew Lippa (Broadway’s “The Wild Party,” “The Addams Family” and “Big Fish”) “I Am Harvey Milk” tells the moving story of Milk’s life from his childhood to his assassination.
Harvey Milk became the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk served almost 11 months in office and was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance for the city. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, another city supervisor who had recently resigned.
Despite his short career in politics, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr in the gay community. Anne Kronenberg, his final campaign manager, wrote of him: “What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us.” He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
“It’s not a straight-forward biography,” says HMC’s executive director Rick Fisher. “The songs touch on universal themes including bullying, activism, and the building of community.”
Each chorus will perform brief individual sets with repertoire inspired by Milk’s quote, “You gotta give ‘em hope,” then come together to perform Lippa’s “I Am Harvey Milk.” Joining the 200 chorus members on stage are soprano Sylvia Stoner, tenor Tom Lancaster as Harvey Milk, and Cam Burns as the young Harvey.
The Kansas City performances will be conducted by Dr. Tim Seelig, who conducted the 2013 world premiere production in San Francisco. Milk’s story is entwined with the history of San Francisco as well as the history of the LGBT choral movement: the candlelight vigil on the night of his assignation in 1978 marked the first public performance by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.
“This is not a story specific to San Francisco,” says Seelig. “This is about a man who stepped forward and did something remarkable –even though he was not particularly remarkable by most accounts. It is about a man who became a hero and a martyr for what he believed. Composer Andrew Lippa’s goal was that every single person who hears this will somehow resonate with the person who was Harvey Milk and look for the part of Harvey within them.”
Heartland Men’s Chorus and Gateway Men’s Chorus present “I Am Harvey Milk” at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, March 29 and 4:00 p.m. Sunday, March 30 at the Folly Theater, 300 West 12th Street, Kansas City, Mo. Tickets are $15-$40 and can be purchased online at https://hmckc.org or by calling 816-931-3338
The choruses will present an encore performance at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at Washington University’s 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity Ave, St Louis, Mo. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at http://www.gmcstl.org.
The choruses will present a free preview performance at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, March 8, at Missouri United Methodist Church, 204 S 9th St, Columbia, Mo. Presented by the University of Missouri LGBTQ Resource Center, the performance is free and open to the public.
Program notes with information on the concert, Milk’s life, political career and assassination are available online at https://hmckc.org/milk.
High resolution photos of the chorus may be downloaded at https://hmckc.org/photos.
# # #
For more information:
General Contact:
Rick Fisher, Executive Director
Heartland Men’s Chorus
(816) 931.3338
hmc@hmckc.org
Marketing Contact:
Tom Lancaster
Kansas City Direct Response Marketing
(816) 471.1120
tom@kcdrm.com
Men’s Choruses Present Free Concert in Columbia, Missouri, Honoring Civil Rights Icon
/in Press ReleaseHarvey Milk became the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk served almost 11 months in office and was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance for the city. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, another city supervisor who had recently resigned.
Despite his short career in politics, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr in the gay community. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
The two choruses will present musical selections inspired by Milk’s life, as well as selections from the oratorio, “I Am Harvey Milk.” Written by Tony® and Grammy Award® nominated composer Andrew Lippa (Broadway’s “The Wild Party,” “The Addams Family” and “Big Fish”) and co-commissioned by Heartland Men’s Chorus, “I Am Harvey Milk” tells the moving story of Milk’s life from his childhood to his assassination.
“It’s not a straight-forward biography,” says HMC’s executive director Rick Fisher. “The songs touch on universal themes including bullying, activism, and the building of community.”
“This is not a story specific to San Francisco,” says Seelig. “This is about a man who stepped forward and did something remarkable –even though he was not particularly remarkable by most accounts. It is about a man who became a hero and a martyr for what he believed. Composer Andrew Lippa’s goal was that every single person who hears this will somehow resonate with the person who was Harvey Milk and look for the part of Harvey within them.”
The University of Missouri LGBTQ Resource Center presents “I Am Harvey Milk” at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, March 8, at Missouri United Methodist Church, 204 S 9th St, Columbia, Mo. Admission is free.
Heartland Men’s Chorus and Gateway Men’s Chorus will present an expanded, two act version of the concert at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, March 29 and 4:00 p.m. Sunday, March 30 at the Folly Theater, 300 West 12th Street, Kansas City, Mo. Tickets are $15-$40 and can be purchased online at https://hmckc.org or by calling 816-931-3338.
The choruses will present an encore performance at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at WashingtonUniversity’s 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity Ave, St Louis, Mo. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at http://www.gmcstl.org.
High resolution photos of the chorus may be downloaded at https://hmckc.org/photos and program notes for the concert are available online at https://hmckc.org/milk
For more information:
General Contact:
Rick Fisher, Executive Director
Heartland Men’s Chorus
(816) 931.3338
hmc@hmckc.org
Marketing Contact:
Tom Lancaster
Kansas City Direct Response Marketing
(816) 471.1120
tom@kcdrm.com
HMC keeps the “brrs” at bay
/in ReviewsKristin Shafel Omiccioli | KCMetropolis.org
Continuing the colorful Christmas theme was “Black Christmas” featuring a septet of the African-American members of the chorus engaging in good-natured observational banter about Hollywood and the music industry’s lily-whiteness when it comes to holiday classics. The song’s droll lyrics had the audience in stitches and it was a definite highlight of the program.
The next few songs shifted gears from boisterous to subdued, starting with an a cappella “Ave Maria,” during which the chorus displayed a balanced sound with expert dynamics. The polyphony in this one was welcome and built to a robust conclusion. The dark, nostalgic “The Chanukah Song (We Are Lights)” and “Our Stockings,” lovingly dedicated to HMC’s Ad Astra members (choir members who have passed away), were the requisite heartrending works of the evening.
Closing out the first half was the titular piece, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” with the chorus splitting down the middle to play the song’s two characters, and “Tropical Holiday Jingle Bells,” complete with choreography and a Hawaiian shirt-laden dance team. This version of “Jingle Bells” showed off additional percussion techniques from drummer Ray DiMarchi (moose call, vibra-slap) and was a workout for pianist Lamar Sims, too. Frequent soloist from the chorus Kelly Marzett, a natural in the spotlight, dressed in drag a la Carmen Miranda for an entertaining feature.
After kicking off the second half with “Sparklejollytwinklejingley” from the Broadway musical Elf, Santa Claus ruled the rest of the concert, from the sea of red suits and white beards in the choir to the selection of repertoire. The high-energy “A Song of Santa” medley offered bits of pop hits like “Little Saint Nick,” “Here Comes Santa Claus,” “I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus,” and “Santa Baby.”
“Yes, Virginia (There is a Santa Claus)” was carried by a substantial solo part sung by Daniel Alford, with temperate vibrato, plenty of emotion, and excellent intonation and projection. Alford wasn’t the only soloist displaying these qualities through the evening, as several HMC members enjoyed the spotlight briefly, all of whom are deserving of praise for their confidence and style, but too numerous to list here.
While definitely a fun and happy holiday celebration, Baby, It’s Cold Outside was also bittersweet in that it marked artistic director and conductor Joe Nadeau’s final concert weekend with HMC, as he has accepted the post of artistic director with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. Before the concert’s finale, surprise guest and friend of the chorus Marilyn Maye appeared and said a few words about Nadeau’s time with the group, and the legacy he created here. Heartfelt yet full of her signature sharp wit, Maye presented her own lyrical spin on “Happiness is a Thing Called Joe” in tribute to Nadeau, prompting a well-deserved standing ovation for HMC’s departing artistic director of 15 years.
Maye joined the choir for “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to end the concert, followed by two encores: Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” which Nadeau confessed he had been wanting to program for a long time, and the poignant “Never Ever” from Robert T. Seeley’s song cycleNakedMan.
Kudos must be paid to HMC’s stellar artistic team for its work on Baby, It’s Cold Outside. The lighting and scenic design, costuming, and choreography enhance every HMC concert from small touches such as individual props for each chorus member to large-scale set pieces flanking the ensemble, and this production was no exception.
REVIEW:
Heartland Men’s Chorus
Baby, It’s Cold Outside
December 6–8 (Reviewed Friday, December 6, 2013)
Folly Theater
300 W. 12th St., Kansas City, MO