Helsinki Gay Men's Chorus Out 'n loud. Finland's first gay chorus was born in the autumn of 2004 when 10 guys, with a burning desire to sing, gathered in front of one piano. Our international name, Out 'n loud, was adopted when the association was officially founded the following spring.
Nowadays, Out 'n loud is a varied bunch of some 30 singers, ranging from university students to pensioners, from all walks of life. New members are always gladly welcomed at our weekly rehearsals! Our repertoire is a combination of romance and humour, varying in style from gay tunes to urban contemporary music, and works composed within the ranks of the chorus.
Out 'n loud keep their tongues sharp by being bilingual (Finnish and Swedish), and we have had the pleasure of being the men's choir of the Swedish Adult Education Centre of Helsinki (Arbis) since the autumn of 2005.
During its short history, the Chorus has performed widely in Helsinki, with plans for world conquest waiting for their proper moment of execution. In the meantime, we have excelled at hosting visiting gay choruses, with Stockholm's Gay Chorus making waves in the autumn of 2005, and the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men's Chorus landing in the summer of 2006, and The Pink Singers from London in the autumn of 2007.
Newsflash!
Before Touko Laaksonen chose a career in advertising and concentrated on drawing, before he became Tom of Finland, he studied piano and composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. For over a decade after the Second World War he supported himself as a musician, playing piano in restaurants, and as a rehearsal pianist in theatres and ballet schools. During this time he also composed music. Finland’s only gay chorus Out 'n loud has uncovered a live recording of one of Laaksonen’s songs from 1949 and reconstructed it. Now, sixty years later, Out 'n loud will perform the song, Vihmalintu, in London May 3rd as part of the Various Voices 2009 choir festival.