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New Hampshire Gay Men's Chorus |
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Member Bio: Keith R. Nelson, baritone
Now in his eleventh year with NHGMC, Keith has pretty much seen it all — the good times, exciting times, and difficult times. “A lot of members have come and gone since I’ve been in the chorus. I wish they were still here... I love performing, and I’ve grown as a performer. I’ve also made so many good friends,” says Keith. As a child, Keith lived and breathed music. He grew up in a musical family, always surrounded by the sounds of music. “I had been playing the clarinet and singing since I was in the third or fourth grade. I was also in church choir. My mother was choir director, and she played piano. My brothers played the trumpet. My father was passionate about his big band music.” Keith’s uncle was a talented drummer and his aunt was a nationally known singer and dancer on television shows, such as the Carol Burnett Show and Gary Moore Show. Keith took private clarinet lessons at home on Friday evenings. “There were lots of things I couldn’t do that other kids did on Friday nights because of my lessons... As a young child, I was very shy and quiet, and I was bullied a lot. But around the seventh or eighth grade, I started to blossom and find my way.” Indeed, at Narragansett Regional High School, Keith literally was the Music Man! “I was a member of the chorus and every band that we had — concert, jazz, marching. I played clarinet, bass clarinet, alto clarinet, E-flat clarinet. I was involved in every production every year, in the pit band every year. For two years, I was a member of the district chorus, district band, all-state chorus, and all-state band. I was really very good!” But wait, there’s more! “I was president of the band, president of the chorus, president of everything! I needed to excel in areas that I could. I was feature editor of the yearbook and on the school paper. I was coming off a situation where I was relatively unknown except for the fact that I was bullied.” Graduating Narragansett in 1972, Keith searched for a music school from which to launch a Music career. He applied at many schools, but had his eye on the highly prestigious Hartt School, a performing arts conservatory, part of the University of Hartford, in West Hartford, Connecticut. But his audition there was “absolutely devastating,” he says. “I listened to people who were prodigies and virtuosos, and here I was from a little rinky-dink town, where I excelled, but getting exposed to the best was crushing! I broke down and told my parents, ‘I cannot do this.’” His parents tried hard to keep Keith on the music path, but he had his mind made up. Today, Keith regrets that decision. “I regret that I went home and said, ‘okay music, I’m done with you.’ I wish I had been stronger. I wish I had continued and just had gone to a different type of school that didn’t have the best reputation.” Keith enrolled in the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and majored in Anthropology. But realizing Anthropology wasn’t his thing, he eventually graduated with a Bachelors degree in counseling and small-group facilitation. “At the time, I did very well with that, enjoyed it, and was hoping to become a really well known healer, like a pastoral counselor.” Just imagine — Keith might have joined forces with our only pastoral counselor in the chorus, Cal Genzel, and together they could be saving our souls! After graduating, however, Keith was broke, no money and no job. The job market for Human Services work was bad. So he made another radical career change and went into the restaurant business — and he loved it! He worked at a restaurant in Northampton for a year, then relocated to Boston and made a killing in the restaurant business there for five years. “I had college friends now living in Boston. They wanted me to live with them, so I moved to the city and worked as a wait person and made phenomenal money! I found something I enjoyed, met incredible people, and made incredible friends. During much of his tenure in the Hub, Keith worked at St. Botolph Street Restaurant — a place where anybody who was anybody hung out. “I was finally making all this money in the big city, with all this wonderful stuff happening, waiting on well-known people!” Keith had moved to Boston in January, 1978, a few weeks before the Great Blizzard of ’78. Baptism by snow? “It was funny. I thought, ‘I’m moving to the city and I’m gonna just go wild, dance, and party!” Indeed, if he had known a few other chorus members in Boston back in the day, they could have all partied together! So Keith partied his heart out right into the summer of that year...until July, when he met the love of his life, Bobby. “I worked at a little restaurant called Flourchild’s on Charles Street. Bobby lived around the corner from there, he worked on Newbury Street, and he came into the restaurant one day.” Keith and Bobby hit it off rapidly. “After we met, my lifestyle kind of changed. I didn’t party a lot. We did other types of nice things, quiet dinners out, things like that.” Bobby was from Manchester, and they zipped up to Manchester on weekends. “I was never in Boston on weekends, once I met him. It’s how I became familiar with Manchester.” Keith moved to Manchester in 1983 to settle down with Bobby, and Keith continued in the restaurant business there. But in 1988, Keith made another radical career move — he joined the U.S. Postal Service as a letter carrier in the Queen City and has been that ever since. “You can work in the restaurant business, but unless you’re in some type of corporate business, there are really no benefits, no guarantees of anything. At the time, we were planning on buying the house where we now live, and it was like, ‘we need to find Keith a job that provides a steady income.’ My initial hope was to get involved in some program within the postal service where I could use my degree — like an employee assistance program. But as time went on, those programs lost a lot of funding, and I realized that was never going to happen.” “It’s been wonderful. Yeah, I get more and more disturbed by the weather as each year passes, but I do enjoy the work. I’ve met some incredible people, delivering their mail. It’s a job that not everybody can do or would want to do. I love the social aspects. I see people every day and I bring them good news and bad news. I am someone they can rely on.” A big entourage of Keith’s faithful fans (friends and family) attends the Manchester concerts to cheer him on. “Through myself and through word of mouth, a lot of people I know have been coming to the concerts. Some know me through my mail route and some I work with — all my friends now.” His fan club especially cheers wildly whenever Keith plays the tambourine!
Keith’s reason for joining NHGMC: “I wanted to get involved in music again. I didn’t do anything in music after that whole Hartt audition episode. Nothing. Not a thing. Finally, I decided to get back into it. I read about the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus (BGMC) and I was going to go down to Boston to audition, but then wasn’t sure I could do that with an hour drive... so then I saw something in one of the papers at a club in Manchester, that there was a New Hampshire chorus. I called, and that’s how it started!” Keith started as a bass the first season, but something felt amiss. He asked Luc for another audition and was reassigned as a baritone. Keith also served two terms as Secretary on the Board of Directors. Keith reminisced a lot about NHGMC: “I remember my first night at rehearsal. The chorus was small. That was the season they made the first Christmas CD. Now, when I listen to that CD I remember how I felt, so wonderful inside when that CD came out, being a part of something special and exciting. I still love being in the chorus. I feel a real allegiance to the chorus. So many things have happened over the years... so many different personalities. Members have always done social things outside the chorus, and that’s also rewarding and beneficial to us.” His favorite NHGMC experience: When, in 2004, NHGMC became the first openly gay chorus to perform at Walt Disney World. “We went to Disney World as a unit, a team, and we performed with so much pride. I was so proud and pleased to be a part of it. We had a wonderful time, and I think it was one of the highest points for the chorus. There was a real bond among us members. It was a momentous thing!” In addition to the fun aspects, Keith emphasized that joining the chorus has always required a tremendous commitment.
Keith enjoys all types of music, especially Portuguese Fado music, a passionate “story-telling” style that’s been around for hundreds of years. He loves the famous contemporary Fado singer, Mariza, whom he’s seen perform many times. He also loves other vocalists, such as Cleo Lane, Judy Garland, Barbara Streisand, Rosemary Clooney, Josh Groban, Elaine Paige, Barbara Bonney, Elvis Costello, Eva Cassidy, and especially Bette Midler. Among his favorite movies: Muriel’s Wedding, An Affair to Remember, and Harold and Maude. Among his favorite musicals: Shout, Chicago, Cats, A Chorus Line, The Sound of Music, Camelot, Oliver, 42nd Street. He loves all types of food, especially French, Italian, Thai, and Route 66 style diner food. Favorite color? “It was blue years ago, but not anymore. I’ve become fond of black for clothing.” Will Keith ever play a musical instrument again? “I still have the clarinet my parents bought me. I haven’t played it for a while. I’ve been wanting to get it reconditioned. Since I haven’t played it in so long, I’m not sure if I could now. When I first joined the chorus, there were a few clarinet players, and we talked about getting a group together, but it never happened. I’ve always wanted to learn to play the piano, so at some point in my life I’d like to pursue it.” Keith enjoys being what he calls “a vibrant member of the chorus.” He is proud of his singing abilities, and has always welcomed the opportunity to sing solos. “To have one’s talents validated is important... it’s nice to know that people appreciate you for who you are and what you’re all about.” One thing most people don’t know about Keith: In 1988, Keith was featured in Manchester Magazine as one of the “best dressed” men in the city! Folks in Manch Vegas have even noticed that Keith’s hair always looks great, even when he’s delivering mail. As for being best dressed: “My goal back in my senior year of high school was to get voted ‘best dressed’ in my graduating class. I was really hoping for that! But I was voted ‘most musical’ instead.” It’s all good. The main theme that’s governed Keith’s life: Still waters run deep. “Despite all the excitement, all the people connections, I regularly need to pull back and have quiet, alone time... to think and reflect or even not think about anything at all. My connections to people are very important to me, my friends, my customers. I love asking questions to learn about people. Some say I’m like Barbara Walters! I used to think I had to have millions of friends, but after a while you know you can’t have millions of friends. There comes those moments when you really need your own quiet space. Parsons Beach is one wonderful place I go for my quiet space.” |
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Baritone Keith Nelson, whose beautiful, rich, booming voice fills our concert halls “from floor to rafter,” joined NHGMC in September, 2000. Keith grew up in East Templeton, Massachusetts, and now resides in Manchester, New Hampshire, with his partner of 32 years, Bobby, and their unbearably cute pooch, Nolin, a four-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Keith, Bobby, and Nolin also spend time at their quaint ocean getaway home at Moody Beach in Wells, Maine. Keith is a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service in Manchester.
Among his interests: Keith loves to travel, and his favorite destinations are Paris, Aruba, Portugal, and Las Vegas. Keith’s also a great dancer! He didn’t skip a beat between 1978 (when he dazzled the dance floors on the Boston Disco scene) and 2010 (when he dazzled us chorus boys with the same great dance moves at our Disco-in-December party). And, says Keith, “I love the ocean, love the beach, and walks on the beach.” With their small RV place at Moody Beach, Keith, Bobby, and Nolin share special, quality time on the beaches of Ogunquit, Wells, and Kennebunk. “We’re up there roughly six months out of the year. We have friends that we’ve made there and friends we’ve brought up there, some of who now have RVs in the same park!” One of Keith’s most special spots in the whole world: Parsons Beach in Kennebunk..jpg)
