June 17, 1989
History
Tonight is the last Chicago appearance for the Windy City Gay Chorus in its tenth performance season. The Chorus traditionally gives three major concerts each year: a festive “Don We Now” holiday performance, a spring concert featuring lighter repertoire, and a formal production during Gay Pride Week at Orchestra Hall.
The Chorus has achieved national recognition, and gained critical and audience acclaim for its continued pursuit of musical excellence and its dedication to the highest of artistic values since its founding in 1979. Under the baton of founding director Garrin, the group has performed for the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) at the local, state, and regional levels. The group won first place in the 1984 Johnny Mann Great American Choral Festival, and toured to New York City in 1982 for a joint appearance with the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus at Avery Fisher Hall. While in New York City, the ensemble was hailed by the New York Daily News for creating a “thorough pleasure in tone, balance, and precision,” with the results described as “positively heroic.”
Other Chorus tour performances have taken place in Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Columbus, Peoria, Minneapolis, Champaign-Urbana, Denver, and Washington, D.C. The Chorus leaves in two weeks to attend the 1989 GALA III festival in Seattle.
WCGC has received substantial recognition from the choral industry and government sources, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, and the City of Chicago Office of Fine Arts. The ensemble was lauded in proclamations by the Illinois House of Representatives and the mayors of Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Denver, and Washington, D. C., as well as by Chicago’s late Mayor Harold Washington. In his proclamation, Mayor Washington hailed the group as “a unique asset to the cultural life of the city and a source of pride to its citizens, who are devoted to excellence in the performing arts.”
The Chorus is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the Chicago Music Alliance, Chorus America, and the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses, and is licensed by ASCAP and BMI. For further information about the Chorus, performances, or auditions, contact Windy City Performing Arts, Inc., 606 West Barry, #216, Chicago, IL 60657, or call (312) 404-WCGC.
Windy City Performing Arts 