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New York City Gay Men's Chorus | |
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Background information | |
Also known as | NYCGMC |
Origin | New York City, United States |
Genres | |
Years active | 1980 | –present
Members | Chairperson: Troy Blackwell |
Website | www |
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 New York City Gay Men's Chorus (NYCGMC) was founded in August 1980 by Ed Weaver who having moved to NYC had been a member of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Their first season culminated in a sold-out concert with the Riverside Symphony at Alice Tully Hall in June 1981 which featured new pieces or newly arranged works by Leonard Bernstein, Jack Gottlieb, Calvin Hampton, John Mueter, Stephen Sondheim, and Glen Vecchione. [1] Music critic Allen Hughes in his review in The New York Times wrote:
The chorus is less than a year old, having been organized last August, but there was nothing about it that suggested immaturity. Musicianship and diction were exemplary, the dark tuxedos worn by all singers made for neat appearance, and the entrances and exits had been planned to achieve optimum efficiency, dignity and style. [1]
In 1982 the chorus became one of the founding members of the GALA Choruses along with The Stonewall Chorale, the Anna Crusis Women's Choir, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus and a handful of other choruses [2] and the following year the chorus was host to the "first national gay choral festival" presented by GALA at Alice Tully Hall. In addition to the NYCGMC, the festival featured performances by gay choruses from Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington, Madison, Wis., Anaheim, Calif., and New Orleans. The final performance included performances by New York's Stonewall Chorale and NYCGMC. Included on the NYCGMC performance was a commissioned work by composer John David Earnest, with the world premiere of "Only in the Dream." The festival concluded with the combined choruses and featured two world premieres: Libby Larsen's Everyone Sang and Ned Rorem's Whitman Cantata. [3] In 1984 the chorus performed at the Eastern Division Conference of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). It was the first time that the ACDA had featured a gay chorus at one of its conventions. [4]
In 1985 the NYCGMC participated in a high-profile AIDS Benefit, The Best of the Best: A Show of Concern, at the Metropolitan Opera House; appearing alongside Burt Bacharach, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Carole Bayer Sager, Carol Burnett, Ellen Burstyn, Colleen Dewhurst, Marilyn Horne, Melissa Manchester, Bette Midler, Christopher Reeve, Brooke Shields, Lily Tomlin, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer. [5] The chorus has continued to perform regularly in benefits for a variety of organizations and causes, including arts education funding for New York schools. [6]
Throughout its history the NYCGMC has been committed to supporting contemporary composers. In 1985 the chorus established an annual choral competition, the first winner of which was John Burge's Songs of War. [7] In a July 1985 review music critic Bernard Holland wrote: "The creation of homosexual singing ensembles in recent years provides more than just a sense of cultural community. Good music for concerted male voices has occupied major composers only marginally in the past, and enthusiastic performers such as the New York City Gay Men's Chorus are providing an outlet and an inspiration for new music." [7] As of 2011 the NYCGMC has commissioned more than 100 choral works, including Conrad Susa's The Chanticleer's Carol (1981), [8] Stuart Raleigh's Words for the Future (1985), [7] David Conte's Invocation and Dance (1987), [9] and Frank Ferko's Humoresques (1987). [9]
In 1988 the NYCGMC became the first American gay chorus to tour Europe with performances in London, Amsterdam, Cologne, Germany and Paris. The performances were all used as benefits for the local communities to raise funds to combat the AIDS crisis in those cities. In London, the concert was hosted by Ian McKellen and featured Eartha Kitt.
The chorus would return to Europe in 1991 to promote its third recording, Love Lives On. This tour featured performances in London, Amsterdam, Cologne, Berlin, Munich and Paris. Again the performances raised funds for local AIDS charities. In London the host for the concert was Simon Callow. In Amsterdam the chorus performed in a concert benefit for the Dutch National AIDS Fund. The concert, Friends For Life, featured soprano Roberta Alexandra and the Dutch National Police Band. The concert was recorded as well as televised on national television.
The chorus toured Europe a third time in 1998, sharing the stage with the Seattle Men's Chorus. This tour covered Barcelona, Spain, Paris, Amsterdam and London. In addition to their own performance in Amsterdam, the choruses also took part in the cultural part of the Gay Games V.
In June 2014, the chorus returned to London once more to perform with the London Gay Men's Chorus. The performance was at the Southbank Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall. While in London, the chorus also performed at the US Embassy at a reception hosted by US Ambassador Matthew W. Barzun. After its performance in London, the chorus traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to take part in the European LGBT Choral Festival, Various Voices. The chorus took part on the festival stage and also performed at the US Embassy in Dublin. The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre was the site for a special performance of Big Gay Sing: Club Night Out as a benefit performance to raise funds for the marriage equality drive in Ireland. A check for €30,000 was presented to Marriage Equality in Ireland.
There have been eight music/artistic directors of the chorus in its history.
The chorus has produced eight recordings. The first two recordings were the first ever given to a gay chorus by a major label. They were on the Pro Arte label. The third and fourth recordings were on the Virgin Classics label. The fifth, seventh and eighth were independently produced by the chorus. The sixth recording was on the DRG label.
Many notable entertainers and ensembles have performed with the NYCGMC as guest artists or hosted NYCGMC concerts, including the following:
Sir David Valentine Willcocks, was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, which he directed from 1957 to 1974, making frequent broadcasts and recordings. Several of the descants and carol arrangements he wrote for the annual service of Nine Lessons and Carols were published in the series of books Carols for Choirs which he edited along with Reginald Jacques and John Rutter. He was also director of the Royal College of Music in London.
London Gay Men's Chorus is a gay choir that was founded in 1991 by a group of nine gay men. The group now has around 200 singing members at any one time and over 300 members in total.
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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, Anna Crusis Women's Choir, Phialdelpha Voices of Pride (PVOP) and has participated in several GALA festivals. The chorus is currently under the artistic direction of Michael Semancik, who is serving as the interim Artistic Director following the retirement of Joseph J. Buches after 20 years of service.
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San Diego Men's Chorus (SDMC) was a men's chorus in San Diego, California, during the period of 1985 to 2009. The Chorus was served by four Artistic Directors throughout its history, concluding, in its final years, with the direction of Jerry R. Foust, who had served previously as the Assistant Director for more than 18 months before assuming the Artistic Director position in January 2006.
The Chicago Gay Men's Chorus (CGMC) is a choral organization in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1983 with 55 singers, the chorus currently consists of approximately 150 singing members and over 200 members in total.
Kent Tritle is a choral conductor and organist in New York City, United States. He is the current director of the professional chorus Musica Sacra and of the Oratorio Society of New York, and director of cathedral music and organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He is a concert organist, including organist of the New York Philharmonic and the American Symphony Orchestra. He has been Director of Choral Activities at the Manhattan School of Music, and on the graduate faculty of the Juilliard School.
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Melbourne Gay and Lesbian Chorus (MGLC) was founded in Australia in 1990 by Lawrence McGuire (1966). The chorus was first named 'Alsounds', 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.
Jo-Michael Scheibe was the former chair of the Department of Choral and Sacred Music at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. Following a sabbatical in Fall of 2022, Scheibe retired from his position as Professor of Choral and Sacred Music and was named Professor Emeritus of Music. In April 2023, he was named a 2023-2024 Fulbright Scholar in Ireland. He formerly conducted the USC Chamber Singers. In 2011 he assumed a new post as National President of the American Choral Directors’ Association. No stranger to the ACDA, Scheibe previously served as the organization's Western Division President (1991–1993), as well as National Repertoire and Standards Chairperson for Community Colleges (1980–1989). Ensembles under his leadership have sung at six national ACDA conventions, as well as two national conventions of the Music Educators National Conference, and various regional and state conventions.
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