Nonetheless, Saturday's concert was Hu's second presented by the Way, and was the first in a series of higher-visibility fine arts events intended to create a haven for serious artists who are a part of or are simply beloved by the LGBT community.
"As a kid, I went to performances at the Academy of Vocal Arts, and it was like being in somebody's living room," said Christopher Bartlett, executive director of the Way. "One of my dreams is to have that level of intimacy here."
His big-picture goals are more serious.
"We're seeing a shift in which first-rate artists who go to school here aren't moving to New York to start their careers," he said. "We want to be a part of that - to support artists to stay here. And in this generation, we have LGBT creative folks across the board - artists, poets . . .."
The high-ceiling reception room of the Way has long hosted exhibitions by artists at various levels of recognition. But for the moment, the fine arts series is beginning with artists well beyond the career-launching stage.
The center will host a Feb. 17 behind-the-scenes tour of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's current retrospective of lesbian photographer Zoe Strauss. Philadelphia Orchestra violist Judy Geist and her Ensemble M will present a program of chamber music and her own art May 14. At a yet-to-be-determined date, painter Tony LaSalle (long associated with Philadelphia, now based in Lambertville) will conduct a walking tour of Philadelphia spaces where his art hangs.
If there's one reason to present the events, it's their built-in audience. Fine arts and classical music tend to be the province of the over-50 crowd - and Bartlett said at least one-third of the center's 1,000 members are in that demographic. "We have the potential to fill the room," he said.
Standards seem to be high. Geist's program will include the orchestra's popular principal clarinetist, Ricardo Morales. Hu's recital featured a Yamaha piano of her choice brought in by a local dealer.
Though the programs are reaching out to numerous avenues in the artistic community (music and visual art, gay and otherwise), where else but the William Way Center would a painter/musician such as Geist have a chance to explore a subject like androgyny in music? And have a highly receptive audience for it?
"Anything goes," she said. "That's what I love about doing this. We're not restricted by themes of sexuality, but we can talk about it, of course. Exploring androgyny through music and visuals . . . it's fascinating."
Particularly for somebody who joined the Philadelphia Orchestra 29 years ago as its first female violist and received what was then intended to be the ultimate compliment: that she played like a man.
"What does that mean?" she asked. "That's the sort of thing this event is exploring."
Bartlett would love to tap the shoulder of Geist's new boss, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Philadelphia Orchestra's music director-designate and the first openly gay conductor of a Big Five orchestra. He also has a history of accompanying vocal recitals on piano.
"I certainly have him on my long-term radar," Bartlett said. "We are reaching a point where there's not so much a pink glass ceiling. Musicians don't have to remain in the closet the way Leonard Bernstein did."
Contact music critic David Patrick Stearns at dstearns@phillynews.com.
