A choir is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which spans from the medieval era to the present, or popular music repertoire. Most choirs are led by a conductor, who leads the performances with arm, hand, and facial gestures.
Eric Edward Whitacre is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music. In March 2016, he was appointed as Los Angeles Master Chorale's first artist-in-residence at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses is an international association of LGBT choruses founded in 1982. In its inaugural performance 14 choruses performed together in September 1982 in San Francisco as part of the first Gay Games. It aims to foster artistic and organizational development within its member choruses. The association includes almost 10,000 vocalists in over 100 associated choruses singing as male, female and mixed ensembles in a wide variety of styles. GALA Choruses produces a large festival every four years, in addition to a number of smaller annual workshops and conferences.
The Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus (PGMC) is a choral organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1981, it is one of the oldest gay men's choruses in the United States, and is a cultural fixture in Philadelphia. The Chorus is affiliated with the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA). The Chorus has performed with the Rainbow Chorale of Delaware and the Anna Crusis Women's Choir, and has participated in several GALA festivals. The chorus is currently under the artistic direction of Joseph J. Buches.
AMASONG is a GLAMA- winning lesbian/feminist amateur choir based in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. The group was created by Kristina Boerger in 1990. The group consists of about sixty women who perform female-oriented, folkloric, and classical music.
Eleanor Joanne Daley is a Canadian composer of choral and church music, a church choir director, choral clinician and accompanist. She lives and works in Toronto, Ontario. Among her best-known works are The Rose Trilogy and Requiem.
Melbourne Gay and Lesbian Chorus (MGLC) was founded in Australia in 1990 by a gay performer and activist, Lawrence Emanuel (1966). The chorus was first named 'AL sounds', due to its part affiliation with the Foundation. In April 1994, the name was changed to Melbourne Gay and Lesbian Chorus, reflecting the chorus's organizational independence and a desire to further challenge stereotypes.
Donald Nally is an American conductor, chorus master, and professor of conducting, specializing in chamber choirs, opera, and new music. He is conductor of the professional new-music choir, The Crossing, based in Philadelphia. He teaches graduate students at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music.
The Saint Louis Chamber Chorus is a large chamber choir, numbering 45 – 50 mixed voices, that presents seasons of six programs performed in St. Louis, Missouri, in venues of historic and/or architectural note. It generally performs without instrumental accompaniment and is well suited to repertoire for double choir and more. Each season includes 50 complete works or more, and generally in the original language. Since pieces are rarely repeated from season to season, the choir enjoys one of the largest repertoires for a choir of its type and size. A complete listing of works sung throughout its history is found on the Chorus website. The choir has long been identified as an advocate for contemporary music, and has championed several women composers, particularly through its Composer-in-Residence program.
The Pacific International Children's Choir Festival (PICCFEST) was established in 1998 as a week-long residential event and quickly became regarded as one of the top treble choir festivals in North America. The festival's co-founder and Artistic Director: Peter Robb, a composer and arranger of choral music as well as a conductor. The other co-founders: Genevieve Robb and Rebecca Robb Hicks. The gathering took place each year in Eugene, Oregon, United States, in conjunction with the long-established Oregon Bach Festival.
Golden Gate Men's Chorus (GGMC) is a gay men's chorus founded in 1982 and located in San Francisco. The GGMC is a group of 50 ethnically and socially diverse gay and gay-supportive men. The GGMC presents spring, summer, and winter programs annually, in addition to numerous guest and community benefit performances throughout the year.
The New York City Gay Men's Chorus is a choral organization in New York City that has been presenting an annual concert season for more than four decades.
The Stonewall Chorale, founded in New York City in 1977, is America's first LGBTQIA chorus. The Chorale, a four-part mixed chorus of approximately 60 members, annually performs three subscription concerts at various venues in New York City. Its repertoire ranges from great classical works to contemporary pieces by cutting edge composers like Ricky Ian Gordon, Eric Whitacre, Chris DeBlasio, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, and Meredith Monk.
A Boy Was Born, Op. 3, is a choral composition by Benjamin Britten. Subtitled Choral variations for men's, women's and boys' voices, unaccompanied , it was originally composed from 1932 to 1933. It was first performed on 23 February 1934 as a BBC broadcast. Britten revised the work in 1955. The composer set different texts related to Christmas to music as theme and variations, scored for an a cappella choir with boys' voices.
Washington, D.C., and its environs are home to an unusually large and vibrant choral music scene, including choirs and choruses of many sizes and types.
Artemis Singers is an American lesbian feminist chorus based in Chicago, Illinois. Its goals are to create positive change in cultural attitudes toward women and female artists and to "increase the visibility of lesbian feminists."
Catherine Roma is an American choral conductor and activist. She was a founding conductor and organizer of the US women's choral movement. She founded the feminist Anna Crusis Women's Choir in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1975, the MUSE women's choir in Cincinnati in 1984, the Martin Luther King Coalition Choir in 1992, and the World House Choir in Yellow Springs, Ohio, in 2012.
Judith Palmer is a Philadelphia-area composer, singer, and arranger. She is one of the founding members of Anna Crusis Women's Choir, America's oldest and longest running feminist choir.
Melodia Women's Choir NYC is a women's choir in Manhattan dedicated to exploring, creating and performing classical and contemporary music composed for women's voices. An ensemble of 30 singers, Melodia performs concerts in New York City, and supports emerging women composers through commissions and performances.
A women's choir or women's chorus is a choir formed exclusively by women. If all singers are young it is called a girls' choir. The voice types are usually soprano and alto, SSAA. The names are also used for music especially composed for such groups.
Anna Crusis Women's Choir, I Ain't Afraid, with Holly Near, 2017
