GALA Choruses
Encyclopedia
The Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses ("GALA Choruses") is an international association of LGBT
choruses
founded in 1982. Its goal is 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.
(1) The San Francisco event was called the West Coast Choral Festival. It was organized and run by members of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus as a forerunner event to the larger one planned the following year in New York, New York.
(2) The New York event was called COAST, which stood for Come Out and Sing Together. It was organized and run by members of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus
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Both the San Francisco and New York events were envisioned at the first planning meeting that set the course for the official founding of GALA Choruses. This meeting, in Chicago, Illinois (15-17 May, 1981) was attended by artistic and business directors of the choruses then in existence.
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
choruses
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
founded in 1982. Its goal is 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.
Festivals
- 1982 - San Francisco, California (1)
- 1983 - New York, New York (2)
- 1986 - Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
- 1989 - Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, WashingtonSeattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
- 1992 - Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
- over 3,400 delegates - 1996 - Tampa, FloridaTampa, FloridaTampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
- over 4,700 delegates - 2000 - San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
- over 4,700 delegates - 2004 - Place des ArtsPlace des Artsright|frame|View of the Place des Arts esplanade. The Musée d'art contemporain is on the left; behind it is the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, with the Théâtre Maisonneuve on the rightPlace des Arts is a major performing arts centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada....
, Montreal, Quebec - over 5,700 delegates - 2008 - Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing ArtsAdrienne Arsht Center for the Performing ArtsAdrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, commonly called The Arsht Center, is Florida's largest performing arts center and is located on Biscayne Boulevard in the Omni neighborhood of Downtown, Miami, Florida, United States...
, Miami, FloridaMiami, FloridaMiami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
(1) The San Francisco event was called the West Coast Choral Festival. It was organized and run by members of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus as a forerunner event to the larger one planned the following year in New York, New York.
(2) The New York event was called COAST, which stood for Come Out and Sing Together. It was organized and run by members of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus
New York City Gay Men's Chorus
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 three decades.-History:...
.
Both the San Francisco and New York events were envisioned at the first planning meeting that set the course for the official founding of GALA Choruses. This meeting, in Chicago, Illinois (15-17 May, 1981) was attended by artistic and business directors of the choruses then in existence.
Notable member choruses
The following member choruses attended the latest festival in Miami, Florida.- Atlanta Gay Men's ChorusAtlanta Gay Men's ChorusThe Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus is a nonprofit performing arts organization based in Atlanta, Georgia . The AGMC's traditional concert season includes a Holiday Concert in early December, a Spring Concert in late April, and a Pride Concert in July.-History:The AGMC was founded in August 1981 by...
- Chicago Gay Men's ChorusChicago Gay Men's ChorusThe Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus is a choral organization in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1983 with fifty-five singers, the chorus currently consists of approximately 150 singing members and over 200 members in total.-History:...
- Columbus Gay Men's Chorus
- Connecticut Gay Men's ChorusConnecticut Gay Men's ChorusThe Connecticut Gay Men's Chorus is Connecticut's first and only performing arts organization composed of openly gay men. It was begun in 1986 by a small group of gay men under the directorship of Robert Read and led by him until 1992. Since 1986 the Chorus has rehearsed in the gymnasium of St...
- Coro AllegroCoro AllegroCoro Allegro is a classical music choral group based in Boston, Massachusetts, drawing its members from the LGBT community. It was founded in 1990.-Profile and performances:...
- Diverse HarmonyDiverse HarmonyDiverse Harmony is an American youth chorus based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2002 it is the first Gay-Straight Alliance Youth chorus in the United States...
Youth Chorus - Gay Men's Chorus of Buffalo
- Gay Men's Chorus of Los AngelesGay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles- About :The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles has been a notable part of the Southern California performing arts community for over twenty-eight years...
- Gay Men's Chorus of San DiegoGay Men's Chorus of San DiegoThe Gay Men's Chorus of San Diego , was an organization of gay male performers, their friends, family, and those who supported GMCSD's mission. GMCSD was founded in the early 1990s...
- Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C.Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C.The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. , is one of the oldest LGBT choral organizations in the United States. With more than 225 singing members, it is also one of the largest...
- Roads Men's Chorus
- Heart of America Men's Chorus of Wichita, Kansas
- Heartland Men's ChorusHeartland Men's ChorusHeartland Men’s Chorus is a gay men’s chorus located in Kansas City. Founded in 1986, and currently featuring more than 150 singing members, HMC performs an annual concert series to live audiences in excess of 6,700 at its performance home, the Folly Theater...
of Kansas City - Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San FranciscoLesbian/Gay Chorus of San FranciscoThe Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco was founded in January, 1980, by Jon Reed Sims . The world's first choral organization to use both "lesbian" and "gay" in its name, LGCSF is dedicated to building and enriching its communities through the universal language of music.-32nd Concert...
- Men Alive: The Orange County Gay Men's Chorus
- New Jersey Gay Men's Chorus
- New Orleans Gay Men's Chorus
- New York City Gay Men's ChorusNew York City Gay Men's ChorusThe 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 three decades.-History:...
- Oakland-East Bay Gay Men's ChorusOakland-East Bay Gay Men's ChorusOakland-East Bay Gay Men's Chorus is a 30 to 45 voice gay men's chorus and supporting non-profit organization based in Oakland, California. It was founded in 1999 by Dick Kramer , who had previously been the first choral director of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus...
- One Voice Mixed ChorusOne Voice Mixed ChorusOne Voice Mixed Chorus is a GLBTA choral organization in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-Saint Paul.Founded in 1988, the chorus is composed of over 80 singing members ages 16–70 and its Fifth Section boasts over 40 non-singing volunteers....
- OurSong - The Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chorus
- Philadelphia Gay Men's ChorusPhiladelphia Gay Men's ChorusThe Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus 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...
- Phoenix Metropolitan Men's Chorus
- Rainbow Women's Chorus
- San Diego Men's ChorusSan Diego Men's ChorusSan Diego Men's Chorus provided entertainment for San Diego, California since 1985. A former member of the Gay & Lesbian Association of Choruses GALA Choruses, SDMC performed some of the finest choral literature from a variety of genres...
- San Francisco Gay Men's ChorusSan Francisco Gay Men's ChorusThe San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus is the world's first openly gay chorus, one of its largest and the group most often credited with creating the LGBT choral movement....
- Seattle Men's ChorusSeattle Men's ChorusSeattle Men's Chorus founded in 1979 in Seattle, Washington, bills itself as the largest community chorus in America, and the largest gay men's chorus in the world...
- Turtle Creek ChoraleTurtle Creek ChoraleThe Turtle Creek Chorale is an American men's chorus located in Dallas, Texas. With 38 CDs and two commercially produced, feature-length motion picture documentaries in public distribution, it is the most recorded men's chorus in the world....
- Triangle Gay Men's Chorus of Raleigh/Durham, NC
- Twin Cities Gay Men's ChorusTwin Cities Gay Men's ChorusThe Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus is a GLBTA choral group in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. The all-male chorus sings a variety of songs arranged for TTBB, ranging from Broadway show tunes to Latin motets to original compositions specially commissioned by the Chorus or written by its members.With...
- Youth Pride Chorus
External links
- GALA Choruses official site
- The History and Music of the Gay & Lesbian Choral Movement (9-hour radio special, from Queer Music Heritage, produced by JD DoyleJD DoyleJD Doyle is an LGBT music archivist and radio producer. He is a staff member of the weekly radio show Queer Voices and produces of the monthly radio show Queer Music Heritage. He is also producer of OutRadio and co-producer of monthly radio review Audiofile...
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