In September 2023, the Professional Chamber Choir in Edmonton, AB, fired singer Erin Craig. The board for the choir, also known as Pro Coro, says it’s an issue with their contracting process. But Craig, who went on to protest outside the choir’s first concert of the 2023-2024 season on September 16, believes they were released on the basis of gender discrimination.
It’s a controversy that started back in mid-July, when artistic director Michael Zaugg invited Craig to a coffee shop for a private meeting. Though neither Craig nor the board were available to comment on the nature of the meeting, Graeme Climie, the singer representative for the choir, said Craig approached him to resolve the situation.
According to Climie, Zaugg said Craig could no longer wear a “they/them” pin during concerts. They needed to follow the dress code like everyone else. Craig agreed hesitantly before Zaugg qualified the decision.
“We shouldn’t be making political statements as members of Pro Coro,” the director allegedly said in the meeting. “If somebody was wearing a United Conservative Party pin, we wouldn’t approve of that either.”
As an advocate for gender equality who likes to highlight diverse composers through their performances, Craig objected. They said the pin was meant to facilitate conversations, and that their non-binary gender identity wasn’t a political statement.
“Choir is not inherently a safe space,” Zaugg allegedly continued, according to a September 17 Instagram post Erin Craig made about their protest.
Climie said Zaugg’s comments were consistent with the language Pro Coro uses to describe choir members during public educational workshops.
“One of the common analogies (they use) is that singers are like the pipes of an organ. Like cogs in a machine,” Climie said, adding that this isn’t a typical attitude for a choir to have. “We’re trying to help the board understand the individuality of the choir members.”
Following the meeting, Craig eventually reported it to the choir’s human resources representative, Sandra Croll. She told Craig to take up the issue with Zaugg directly. Frustrated, Craig finally went to Climie, who helped them approach the board in August. Their concerns were dismissed.
Conductor and Pro Coro singer Adam Robertson said there are several common practices in choral environments, broadly speaking, that reinforce gender stereotypes, and that he himself puts in a lot of work to deconstruct them.
When conducting his own groups, for instance, Robertson addresses choristers as “sopranos and altos, tenors and basses” instead of “ladies and gentlemen.” He doesn’t require basses and tenors to wear tuxedos, for example, since not all members of those sections feel comfortable or confident in themselves in that attire. Robertson’s choirs only need to wear clothes that adhere to a ‘Black to the floor’ policy, meaning they can choose the concert attire that best meets their preferred gender expression.
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Robertson believes this kind of acceptance and diversity is necessary, especially given the recent increase in anti-trans protests.
“For much of our lives we’ve been told that the way we are is wrong and has to be kept under wraps, so you find whatever way you can to express those innermost parts of yourself,” he said.
“It’s important for choir to be a safe space because historically, so few other spaces have been safe.”
This was the main sentiment Craig expressed in their Instagram post.
“For all the transphobia and microaggressions I face on a daily basis just trying to exist in the world as a non-binary person, choir has always been a place where I could just be who I am and sing my pain away,” they wrote. “It was a sanctuary, a safe place to land. And now one of those places has been taken away from me.”
Craig ended the post by calling on Pro Coro to acknowledge their actions, otherwise the protests would continue at future concerts.
In a statement released on September 22, Pro Coro said they’re “an inclusive community which welcomes everyone”. They added that they were concerned about how the board and Zaugg were being represented on social media, since their longstanding contracting process for singers “was followed in this case.”
Robertson believes the board was referring to the annual contracts singers have to sign to renew their membership. He said Craig and several other members may have had their contracts canceled at the end of the season because they didn’t sign in time.
Climie said Craig’s singer contract was voided without reason, a level of ambiguity around contracting that’s unusual for Pro Coro.
“They contract early and they’re very clear,” he said, “but Erin got a notification that their contract was voided with no explanation from Michael and the board.”
Pro Coro also wrote in the statement that it will review the dress code policy, for which a gender-neutral standard was already adopted in 2020, and they will hire a diversity coach and professional mediator. Robertson said, however, that Craig previously told him they didn’t want mediation because they wanted to avoid another conversation with Zaugg
“They wanted him to be reprimanded and then wanted an apology from him. If you’ve had a traumatic conversation with someone, the last thing you want to do is enter into another conversation,” he said. “It seems the board doesn’t understand trans people or pronouns at all.”
Climie also objected to the board’s statement that they met with the singer representative. In his single, five-minute meeting with board chair Susan Rockwood and Mary-Lynne Campbell, they told him they couldn’t comment, despite his persistent attempts to say it was “mission critical to the choir’s ability to perform.” He resigned as representative just before the new season.
“We proceeded into our first week of rehearsals with no comment whatsoever,” he said. “It’s entirely possible the board told Michael not to comment, because one of the things he’s known for is his directness and politeness. For him to show up for two weeks and not address this – it’s not the Michael that we know.”
Robertson suggested that around half the choir vocally agrees with Craig. Though they didn’t know the protest was happening until it ended – the musicians were all backstage at the time – Robertson said they’re excited someone is attempting to get a transparent response from the board.
Music groups across Canada, including Musica Intima, have also expressed support. In a September 20 Instagram post, the ensemble announced they will buy pronoun pins for their members to wear during performances and at rehearsals: “We at Musica Intima are doubling down on our commitment to be a safe space for everyone – to feel seen, heard, and welcome to explore their creativity.”
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