Firefi ghters on the scene on Second Avenue just below East Seventh Street.
The late Jerriese Johnson, who founded Middle Collegiate’s gospel choir.
➤ MIDDLE COLLEGIATE, from p.3
end Dragt, who was by then retired.
The Jerriese Johnson Gospel Choir has been
featured on NBC’s “Today Show,” and has performed
at numerous prestigious venues including
Carnegie Hall and the Public Theater.
Middle Collegiate is also noted for its World
AIDS Day commemorations, including playing
host to Downtown Music Productions’ musical
series of works composed by composers who
died from AIDS causes and named for the late
Eric Benson, a gifted composer, performer, and
writer. The 2015 program included pieces by
Chris de Blasio, Kevin Oldham, Richard Jetter,
and Robert Chesley — as well as from other
LGBTQ artists, including songs from Leonard
Bernstein’s “Mass” and “A Simple Song,” the
fi rst movement of Copland’s “Sonata #1 for Violin
and Piano.”
One regular attendee at Middle Collegiate
LLOYD MITCHELL
MIDDLECHURCH.ORG
was Tituss Burgess (best known for his role in
Netfl ix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) who in
2012 gave a live streaming concert of his gospel
album “Welcome.”
Photographer Bill Bytsura, who two years
ago published “The AIDS Activist Project,” an
astonishing album of portraits chronicling
leading fi gures in the AIDS activist community
in New York and worldwide, fi rst displayed his
collection at Middle Collegiate before taking it to
venues around the globe including the National
Gallery of Australia
For decades, Middle Collegiate has also
opened its doors to LGBTQ recovering alcoholics.
The East Village Group, which originally
had meetings on Tuesdays and Saturdays —
and has since expanded its schedule — helped
countless queer New Yorkers struggling with
the disease fi nd a venue where they felt comfortable
talking about the fullness of their lives.
— Additional reporting by Robert Pozarycki.
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GayCityNews.com | December 17 - December 30, 2020 27
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