A founding member of the Congressional Chorus is recounting the group’s 39-year history that began with eight congressional staffers and an out-of-tune piano.
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This singer is the heart and soul of DC’s Congressional Chorus
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It was hard not to have a lump in your throat during the Congressional Chorus’ rehearsal Wednesday as the 80 singers on stage filled the auditorium at the First Baptist Church of D.C. with The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows.”
This weekend, the Congressional Chorus is doing something they’ve never done in their 39-year history.
Their annual cabaret normally showcases American music. But performances on Friday and Saturday will spotlight music from across the pond that many Americans fell in love with, including the Beatles and Spice Girls.
The next song rehearsed Wednesday was “Black Bird” by the Beatles, another tune that could make someone who’s dehydrated tear up.
Standing on the far left in the front row — or stage right, for the theater people — was Louise Buchanan, who is one of the two founding members who still perform with the group.
During a 15-minute break from their rehearsal, Buchanan shared the chorus’ origin story with WTOP.
Buchanan, who cast her first presidential vote for John Kennedy in 1960, asked that WTOP not make a big deal over a recent milestone birthday.
Which is pretty difficult if you meet Buchanan. Not only does she, 90, have a striking resemblance to Carol Burnett, but she is more “with it” than your average college professor.
8 Congressional staffers and an out of tune piano
The Blue Mountain, Mississippi, native jokingly said she’s “definitely the best singer from Blue Mountain.”
When asked about the secret to a long life, she answered, “Service, public service.”
“That’s been one of my ambitions, to be a really good friend in crisis, in joy,” Buchanan said. “I had a mission in my own life, to try to be effective in public service and to make a difference where I could.”
Buchanan, who has no issue declaring that she is a liberal, worked on Capitol Hill for two representatives, Republican Rep. Jack Kemp and Democratic Rep. Joseph Early.
“A Southern woman, working for somebody from Massachusetts and New York,” Buchanan said with a laugh. “It didn’t matter if you had a Southern accent, if you could help.”
Buchanan may be in her ninth decade, but still drives and remembers the start of the Congressional Chorus like it was yesterday, “1987 on a blustery day in October.”
There were notices posted near the House and Senate office buildings by the cafeteria that read: “If you like to sing, come over to the Dirksen building on Tuesday.”
“I love to sing, and I was a Capitol Hill staffer,” Buchanan said. “There were eight of us congressional staffers, an out-of-tune piano, which I’m sure they’re still using.”
Bringing music to inaugurations, shelters and schools
While a lot has changed since the first day — now there are more than 100 members of the chorus, from all types of jobs — the goals have stayed the same.
“One was to feature the power and beauty of American choral music,” Buchanan said. “The second was to use music as a vehicle for community service.”
Along with performing at two presidential inaugurations, and events in the House and Senate, they have also visited nursing homes, shelters and schools all across the District.
“Every level, from kindergarten through high school, to help teach about American history through music,” Buchanan said. “A lot of the kids were from neighborhoods where they didn’t have musical opportunities.”
That is why in 2016, the Congressional Chorus founded the American Youth Chorus, for children eight to 14.
“We’re very proud of that,” Buchanan said.
There was one school performance that was incredibly meaningful to Buchanan.
“I remember at Anacostia High School, a student had just been killed,” Buchanan said. “We were able to go into that school and join their choir and sing comforting songs to each other.”
As Allan Laiño, the Congressional Chorus’ artistic director called everyone back to the stage, she spun around and watched the next group sing.
While a group sang The Spice Girl hit “Wannabe,” the founding member who just celebrated her granite jubilee smiled and moved to the beat.
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