A point of Pride: New Mexico Gay Men's Chorus delivers Latin flair with 'Orgullo!'

The New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus is celebrating Pride with a Latin flair.

“Orgullo!” (Spanish for pride) features Latinx and Hispanic music from Broadway, film and folk. The show will open at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe on Friday, June 21, before moving to Albuquerque on Saturday, June 22, and Sunday, June 23, at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

“I’ve been wanting to do a Latin concert,” said director Aaron Howe. “We live in a state where 50% are of Latin or Spanish descent. LGBTQ people are part of the Latinx heritage. It’s basically a celebration of Latin music.”

The concert will feature Mexican folk songs, as well as songs by Selena, plus arrangements from the 2017 movie “Coco.” The chorus will shift to Broadway with “Carnaval del barrio” from “In the Heights.”

“I really love the movie ‘Coco,’ ” Howe said. “That was a movie that was done right in terms of cultural identity.”

The NMGMC will sing Gloria Estefan’s “Coming Out of the Dark” as a celebration of the healing power of togetherness.

Howe gathered some of his Hispanic friends for input on the program.

“This isn’t appropriation,” he said.

From 20% to 30% of the chorus is Hispanic, he added.

“I wanted to add more people from that culture.”

The guest artists include University of New Mexico assistant professor of voice Olga Perez Flora, a mezzo-soprano, who will join UNM lecturer Jamie Flora, tenor, along with bass-baritone Javier Ortiz and classical guitarist Adolfo Estrada.

The all-female, Santa Fe-based Mariachi Gran Victoria will also perform.

“I’m very delighted by the program,” Howe said. “It has that idea of culture and history. We are taking it on very sensitively.”