In November 2019, Jon Reed Sims’ personal piano returned to San Francisco after a 35-year journey, joining SFGMC’s new home as the Chorus marked its 41st anniversary.
The founder behind the music
Jon Reed Sims founded the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus in October 1978. Its first public performance came at the candlelight vigil after the assassinations of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone on November 27. Members gathered on the steps of City Hall and sang Mendelssohn’s Thou, Lord our Refuge, beginning a history of bringing people together through music.
Sims appointed Dick Kramer to lead the Chorus as it developed its concert life, while continuing to support the wider LGBTQ performing arts community through Golden Gate Performing Arts. Sims died of AIDS on July 16, 1984, at age 37. The piano offers a tangible connection to the musician whose vision helped start an international choral movement.
A piano cared for across decades
Doug Litwin, board secretary of the Jon Sims Endowment Fund for the Performing Arts (JSEF), traced the instrument’s journey:
- 1984: Sims left his ebony Yamaha grand to friends in the Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band.
- 1991: It was donated to JSEF and kept in its treasurer’s Noe Street home.
- 2005: JSEF president Loren McGlade moved it to San Diego.
- 2019: McGlade died on July 9. On July 22, JSEF’s board unanimously voted to offer the piano to SFGMC.
A new home for a lasting legacy
The six-foot Yamaha C3, part of the Conservatory Series, was placed on the 300-seat theater’s stage at the National LGBTQ Center for the Arts, SFGMC’s home at the time. SFGMC thanked JSEF’s board and caretakers and committed to maintaining the instrument for community music-making.
Its return connects the people who protected a piece of our history with the musicians who would give it a new life.
Source: Dr. Tim Seelig, “Jon Reed Sims’ Historic Piano Comes Home,” San Francisco Bay Times, November 14, 2019. Seelig was SFGMC’s artistic director when the article was published. Founder background: SFGMC’s Jon Reed Sims biography.
