Why We Sing
For the singers of the Indianapolis Men’s Chorus, IMC is about far more than music. It’s about finding community, building friendships, being seen and having a place where you can fully be yourself.
Every week, nearly 100 singers walk into rehearsal.
They come from different backgrounds, different professions and different parts of our community. Some have been singing their entire lives. Others found their way back to music after years away. And each arrived at the Indianapolis Men’s Chorus for a different reason.
But somewhere along the way, something happens.
A rehearsal becomes a community. The people standing beside you become friends. A concert becomes an opportunity to say something that matters.
And a chorus becomes a place where you belong.
In Their Own Words
We asked three IMC singers to talk about their experience in the Chorus: what brought them here, what keeps them coming back and what Indianapolis would lose if IMC weren’t here.
Their answers remind us why this organization has endured for more than three decades, and why this community continues to matter.
More Than a Performance
Audiences usually meet IMC under the lights.
They see the costumes. They hear the music. They laugh with us. Sometimes they cry with us. And for a couple of hours, 100 individual voices become one.
What they don’t always see is everything that happens before and after the performance.
The friendships.
The Wednesday and Sunday nights spent together.
The singer who walks into their first rehearsal not knowing anyone.
The person who discovers that there’s room here for them exactly as they is.
The moments when someone realizes he isn’t simply part of a choir. He’s part of a community.
That sense of belonging has been at the heart of the Indianapolis Men’s Chorus since its beginning.
Why We Keep Singing
Music is what brings us together.
But it isn’t the only reason we sing.
We sing because LGBTQ+ voices deserve to be heard.
We sing because joy can be powerful.
We sing because there are still people searching for the kind of community that so many of our singers have found here.
We sing for the person in the audience who needs to see people living openly and joyfully.
And we sing for each other.
For more than three decades, generations of singers have added their voices to the Indianapolis Men’s Chorus. The people change. The music changes. The world around us changes.
But the need to belong never does.
That’s why we sing.
Be Part of the Story
Whether you’re sitting in the audience, singing on stage, volunteering behind the scenes or making a gift, you’re part of what makes this community possible.