June 18, 2016
Program Notes
Our final concert of the season will be a fabulous evening of WCPA’s hits from over the years. Selections ranging from gospel to show tunes, from country to classical, will be hand-picked by our Artistic Director Paul Caldwell to highlight our very Best. Join us for one show-stopper after another and wish our choirs ‘bon voyage’ before we venture to Denver to sing at the International GALA Festival.
• WINDY CITY PERFORMING ARTS •
Windy City Performing Arts (incorporated in 1983) is the independent not-for-profit umbrella organization comprised of Windy City Gay Chorus and Windy City Treble Quire. Each chorus performs a variety of musical styles from classical to pop. We pride ourselves on musical excellence regardless of the style of music, and have a history of performing major choral works including specially commissioned pieces. WCPA made history in 2003 when we became the first LGBT choral organization to sing the National Anthem at an Illinois professional sporting event, opening for the Chicago White Sox. The choruses of WCPA have performed on regional and local stages, from Steppenwolf Theatre (Chicago) to Carnegie Hall (New York).
• WINDY CITY TREBLE QUIRE •
Windy City Treble Quire is WCPA’s treble chorus. Formed in 1996 under the name Aria: Windy City Women’s Ensemble, it was originally the small, women’s ensemble of Unison: Windy City Lesbian and Gay Singers, and quickly became an audience favorite at concerts and special appearances over the years, performing at GALA Festival 2000 in San Jose to rave reviews. Now, with a new name that reflects today’s reality of a chorus that encompasses singers who self-identify as female, male, straight, gay, trans*, or bisexual, Windy City Treble Quire embraces its role as a totally inclusive chorus. The word ‘Quire’, an old-English spelling of ‘choir’, also gives voice to chorus members who identify as queer. WCTQ performs music that not only entertains but reminds us of our diversity, and is poised to make a lasting impact on the mainstream as well as LGBT music scene.
• WINDY CITY GAY CHORUS •
Founded in October 1979, Windy City Gay Chorus is the oldest gay chorus in Illinois and the Midwest, and one of the first gay choruses organized in the country. WCGC is a founding member of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA). WCGC’s first performance was in December 1979, at the Don We Now… holiday concert at Stages Music Hall. Windy City Gay Chorus has performed in cities throughout the country, and has been lauded by the Illinois House of Representatives, the mayors of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Seattle, and Chicago mayors Rahm Emanuel, Richard M. Daley, and the late Harold Washington. The chorus has a commitment to performing music that is as challenging as it is entertaining.
Windy City Performing Arts 