March 14, 1987
Welcome Notes
Welcome to “Music For the Stage: Great Choruses From Opera and Musical Comedy.” For tonight’s concert, Maestro Garrin has programmed a wide array of music for male chorus, ranging from the sublimity of Beethoven and Wagner to the sparkling melodies of Sondheim and Bernstein. I hope that you enjoy the performance as much as all of us have enjoyed the preparation.
During the past year, Windy City Gay Chorus performed at regional and state conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, travelled to Minneapolis to participate in the second national choral festival sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA), and performed at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall with the Champaign-Urbana Men’s Chorus. Our eighth annual “Don We Now” holiday concert last December was not only a critical and audience success, but a sell-out as well. More recently, we were especially proud to be a part of the third annual “Chicago Sings Against AIDS” concert at Park West last month, where we shared the stage with the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus and Artemis Singers.
In two weeks, Windy City will travel to Denver to appear in concert with the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus at Boettcher Hall. Then, in June, Denver will join us for our eighth Gay Pride concert, which will also mark our third appearance at Orchestra Hall, on Saturday, June 20. Mark your calendars now for this event. It’s sure to be a concert you won’t want to miss, and a rousing prelude to Gay Pride Week as well.
Windy City continues to receive substantial recognition for its commitment to artistic and musical excellence from such granting agencies as the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, and the City of Chicago Office of Fine Arts. Of special note, we have just received notice of a challenge grant award in the amount of $7,650 from the City Arts II Challenge Grant program supported by The Chicago Council of Fine Arts and The Chicago Community Trust. Under the terms of this award, Windy City must raise a total of $2,550 in amounts ranging from $100 to $2,000, by December 1987. I hope that you will consider joining with us to help make this challenge a reality.
Our public concerts and visible activities have been more than matched by a commitment to putting our organizational house in order, in preparation for our 10th anniversary in 1989. A Constitution Committee has been formed to examine Windy City’s Constitution and Bylaws, with the aim of recommending improvements and updates which will allow us to continue to function efficiently and with the greatest benefit to our membership. The Board of Directors recently undertook a daylong retreat under the guidance of a professional facilitator during which issues of importance to the organization were identified, specific goals articulated, and plans to address both discussed. Finally, Maestro Garrin is currently working on a new three-year artistic plan, which will not only move us into our 10th anniversary year, but position us for our next ten years of service to the gay community through our performances and outreach.
I look forward to your continued support and hope to see you all at Orchestra Hall on June 20th.
Craig Smith
General Manager
Windy City Gay Chorus
History
This evening the Windy City Gay Chorus continues its eighth season with “Music For the Stage: Great Choruses From Opera and Musical Comedy.” Numbering nearly 80 singers, the Chorus gives three concerts annually, including a festive Christmastide concert and a performance at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall during Gay Pride Week.
Since its founding in 1979, The Windy City Gay Chorus has achieved national recognition and garnered critical and audience acclaim for its uncompromising pursuit of musical excellence and dedication to the highest artistic values. Under the baton of founder and Music Director Richard Garrin, the group has performed for both regional and state conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA, won first place in the 1984 Johnny Mann Great American Choral Festival, and toured to New York for a joint appearance with the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus at Avery Fisher Hall in 1982.
While in New York, the Chorus was hailed by the New York Daily News critic for creating a “thorough pleasure in tone, balance and precision … the results were positively heroic.” Other WCGC performances have taken place in Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Columbus, Peoria, Minneapolis, and Champaign-Urbana. The Chorus will travel to Denver March 27-30 to appear in concert at Boettcher Hall with the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus, and will in turn host the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus at Orchestra Hall in Chicago on Saturday, June 20.
In 1984 the Chorus’s musicianship and contributions to the community were lauded in proclamations by the Mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Illinois House of Representatives and Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. Mayor Washington’s proclamation 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,” while the Illinois House of Representatives assured the Chorus and Maestro Garrin of “our esteem and appreciation.”
Windy City Gay Chorus has received substantial recognition from the choral industry and government institutions, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, and the City of Chicago Office of Fine Arts. Windy City Gay Chorus is a member of the Association of Professional Vocal Ensembles and the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA Choruses).
For further information about the Chorus, performances, or auditions, call 871-SING or write Windy City Performing Arts, Inc., 606 West Barry Avenue, #216, Chicago, Illinois 60657.
Windy City Performing Arts 