December 8, 1984
History
The Windy City Gay Chorus was founded in 1979 to pursue musical excellence and to exemplify our community’s rich diversity. Since then, continuous growth has enabled the WCGC to host the first International Conference of Directors and Managers of Gay Choruses, in May, 1981, where the WCGC became one of fourteen founding members of the International Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses, which now numbers more than forty member choruses.
The Windy City Gay Chorus has a history of fine guest artists as well as fine musical performance of its own. In April, 1983, the chorus hosted the first gay chorus from outside Chicago to sing here when the eighty-member Twin Cities Men’s Chorus shared the stage with the WCGC at its spring concert. In June, 1983, the chorus presented “Spirit of American Music” with guest artist Ginni Clemmens at Chicago’s Civic Theatre. Karen Mason and Brian Lasser joined the chorus, to thunderous applause, for the 1984 Gay Pride concert.
Touring performances have taken the WCGC to Milwaukee (1981), New York’s Lincoln Center (1982), Indianapolis (1983), and, most recently, to Minneapolis’s Orchestra Hall. The chorus also performed at the Howard Brown Clinic’s tenth anniversary celebration September 22.
In the spring of 1984, the Windy City Gay Chorus advanced through regional competition to win first place in the national competition of the Johnny Mann Great American Choral Festival, a series of eleven choral competitions held each year across the country. The WCGC was the first gay chorus to receive this prestigious honor. Most recently, the chorus received accolades following its performance for the annual convention of the Illinois chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, a performance by invitation of that group and a very high honor for the chorus.
The chorus received a proclamation from the mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis in support of its music. On May 9, 1984, Mayor Harold Washington of Chicago issued a proclamation recognizing the Windy City Gay Chorus as “a unique asset to the cultural life of the city and a source of pride to citizens who are devoted to excellence in the performing arts.” Similarly, on June 14, 1984, the Illinois House of Representatives adopted a resolution congratulating and commending both the chorus and “Richard Garrin, their distinguished director, as a measure of our esteem and appreciation.”
Each year the WCGC presents three major concerts: in December, in the spring (this year, March 23), and during Gay Pride Week (this year, June 22). There are also smaller performances: A free Christmas night program is traditional, as is a more intimate fall “Friends” concert. The chorus also is proud to participate in Chicago’s annual Gay Pride Parade. During the holiday season, many chorus members donate their time, caroling at hospitals and local gay businesses.
Membership in the chorus is gained by a short audition. Most of the chorus’ members are not professional musicians, although they are expected to demonstrate musical growth at an annual reevaluation. The Windy City Gay Chorus shares members with both the Chicago Symphony and Grant Park Choruses, the William Ferris Chorale, the Lyric Opera School, and other prominent groups, but it also has members with affiliations to no other musical or gay organizations.
The Windy City Gay Chorus is the oldest of three such choruses in Chicago, the Artemis Singers (a feminist-lesbian chorus) and the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus being the other two.
For more information about the chorus, to schedule an audition, or to obtain tickets for upcoming concerts, please call the WCGC at (312) 227-3853. Write us at Windy City Performing Arts, Inc., 606 West Barry, #216, Chicago IL 60657.
Windy City Performing Arts 