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singing out
las cruces
From our LGBTQA base, Singing Out uses the power of music to entertain, heal and inspire the community to respect and value the differences of all people.
Singing Out Las Cruces is a non-profit organization that seeks to bring the local LGBTQ+ community together for the art of choir. Since the start of Singing out Las Cruces over a decade ago, the organization has successfully impacted the community in a positive way, fully embracing the differences of its members in an effort to deliver the message of equality. Additionally, SOLC warmly welcomes members of every skill level—meaning that no one is required to audition and music reading skills aren’t necessary to join. Singing Out Las Cruces has contributed to the LGBTQ+ movement through its continued outreach and community-oriented events here in the Borderland.
Singing Out, Las Cruces (SOLC) is a mixed-voice, LGBTQ+ and allies/friends, a non-profit organization that performs choral works for the appreciation, inspiration, and education of Las Cruces and its surrounding communities. SOLC seeks to use the art of music to entertain, heal, and inspire through giving a voice to the local community while striving to achieve a society that respects and values the differences of all people. The SOLC Board Members consist of John Knopp, who assisted in the start of SOLC in 2011; Emily Burr, who began by singing within the choir in 2015 before becoming a board member in early 2020; and Dustin Hamlin, a sitting board member known for his health-conscious lifestyle and love for gardening. In addition to the Board Members, Irene Brink serves as the Artistic Director of SOLC. Irene, like Emily, began by singing with SOLC before taking on her leadership position.
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SOLC is also an active member of GALA Choruses, whose mission is to help LGBTQ+ choruses become more artistically and administratively effective. Additionally, GALA Choruses hosts a signature quadrennial festival, which brings together over 130 choruses and 6000 singers for the world’s largest LGBTQ+ performing arts event. Ultimately, SOLC aims to help its members learn to sing music ranging from classical to traditional, to world music, and more modern pop selections with the guidance of an Artistic Director. The choir performs two concerts annually, in addition to singing at special events in the surrounding area.
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Since its founding in 2011, SOLC has continuously contributed to the LGBTQ+ community and movement within Las Cruces and its surrounding communities. Even with our current state of the pandemic, SOLC continues its outreach with the community through various online events. Some of these include their recurring “Singing Out’s Second Serving” event where members and patrons meet virtually every second Saturday of the month to catch up and share stories, online mini-concerts, and giving a platform for local performers to share their music on Make Music Day in June of 2020. Throughout the years, SOLC has coordinated and participated in several events outside of their yearly concerts—their involvement in Pride parades, local concerts, church events, and various online and in-person outreach events are all ways in which SOLC has spread its choral works and message of equality.
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