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Lift Every Voice
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“On the Road Again”: Traveling with Transgender, Non-Binary,
and Gender Expansive Singers in Your Ensemble

By Melanie E. Stapleton

I still remember the palpable excitement I felt in school choir student to an undergraduate music educa-
middle school when my future high school choir direc- tion student and finally became a choir director in my
tor came to talk to us about what we could look forward own right, choir trips were a foundational part of the
to if we enrolled in high school choir. Admittedly, I was process. These trips were not only fun, but instrumen-
already biased from my upbringing. My dad’s side of tal to my musical, professional, and personal growth. In
the family cherished music in all its forms, particularly the trips I took with my high school choir, I experienced
singing, so much so that my aunt had studied vocal live mariachi music for the first time in San Antonio,
performance at the Manhattan School of Music, and Texas, and discovered the myriad styles of music per-
our traditional family singing of the blessing, “God is formances present in Branson, Missouri. Professional
Great” before dinnertime often ended in a variety of skills like being punctual to call times and being reliable
four-part harmonies. But what really helped to solidify were repeatedly instilled in me. Travelling with other
my enrollment decision was the director’s discussion of adolescent humans taught me how be more courteous
choir trips. and empathetic toward my peers. There were unin-
Every year the ensemble got to go on a trip, annually tended life lessons along the way as well, such as finally
alternating between “big trips” and “small trips” to en- learning how to whistle whilst on the bus, or discov-
sure they wouldn’t become too cost prohibitive. While ering that one errant chili dog can wreak inadvertent
these trips naturally included choral performances, I chaos. I would not be the same person I am today with-
was more excited about the prospect of riding rides at out those trips.
Disney World while my friends were stuck in geometry However, as the only out transgender person in all of
class. my choral ensembles over the years, I repeatedly had to
It’s impossible for me to separate the experience of navigate hurdles that my cisgender colleagues did not.
being in a choral ensemble from the thrill of a new Trans issues were not readily visible or distinguishable
geographical adventure. As I transitioned from high from the larger LGBTQ+ issues in the mainstream,

CHORAL JOURNAL November/December 2024 Volume 65 Number 4 53