This time of year there is the usual array of brand new CDs and MP3’s of holiday songs of various styles that are released to the public. But there is one Christmas CD that should be interest to the gay community in Philly–the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus has just came out with their first holiday CD, Holiday Delights. The album contains fifteen tracks, varying from classical works of Rachmaninoff and Gregorio to the more usual holiday standards. 60% was recorded in the studio; the rest was taped live in concert.

The latest PGMC CD was launched on the weekend of December 7-8 at their latest concert, titled “Fruitcake…and Other Holiday Delights.” It was held at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion. About a hundred people performed as part of chorus in those two concerts, and Carlotta Ttendant was on the bill as a special guest. With its debut the album was already heading towards success, where 100 copies were sold prior to its official release. “Chorus members grabbed the first copies at rehearsal [the evening before the first concert],” said David Boorman of the PGMC’s Marketing Committee.

I asked Joesph J. Buches, artistic director of the PGMC, how the idea to make this album come about. “The Programming Committee and I came up with the concept.” As for the criteria of choosing which songs to use, he said, “We wanted to get a good variety of music that we have done over the past three years that demonstrates the versatility of our singers. We also wanted to have a good variety for the listener.” With the rise of MP3s in the past decade and more people having the tendency of wanting to listen to individual tracks as opposed to a whole album, I ask Buches if he feels confident that people will want to listen to this all the way through. “The CD contains various styles and will give listeners a wide variety of songs that would interest them.”

Holiday Delights has quite a few musical tweaks and turns to keep the listener tuned in. “Ocho Kandelikas,” one of the two Hanukkah songs featured on the album, has a prettily tangoesque feel to it. “Hallelujah” from Handel’s Messiah goes into a gospel-style workout at its end. But their version of “Jingle Bells” is the most memorable track off the album, where two minutes into the song it goes into a mid-60s/retro/cocktail lounge mode, and then a minute later it momentarily quiets down into a Julie Andrews-like vocal gone operatic.

You can pick up the Holiday Delights CD at Giovanni’s Room in Philly, or you can order it online at their website at www.pgmc.org, where you can listen to some samples. (While there are currently no online sites like iTunes to legally download the album from, a couple of PGMC members said that they are looking at plans to make the album available on such sites in the future.) There will also be a CD release party at Woody’s on Sunday, December 23 from 10pm to midnight, where there will be a guest bartender from PGMC and some CD giveaways. A portion of the proceeds from that evening will go towards the PGMC.

(The Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus are having some big plans for next year. Not only are they are having their regular concerts in March (“DIVAlicious – The Women We Love”) and June (“The Circle Of Our Lives,” where they will be performing with several nearby men’s and women’s choruses), they will also be performing at Widener University in April, and at the Libetry Gay Rodeo Weekend in Philly in May. And in July, PGMC will be at the GALA Festival, where they will be participating with many singers from various countries; this event plans to be the biggest gay performing arts festival in the world.)