The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus marked its 40th anniversary with a weekend of events on October 26–28, 2018, the Bay Area Reporter wrote.
How it began
Artistic Director Dr. Tim Seelig told the paper that Jon Reed Sims founded the chorus in October 1978. About 100 men came to the first rehearsal on October 30 at Everett Middle School and chose the name San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, the first chorus of its kind. Four weeks later, after Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated, the chorus gave its first public performance at the candlelight vigil, singing Mendelssohn’s “O Lord Our Refuge” and joining Holly Near in her song “Singing for Our Lives.”
The anniversary weekend
- October 26: a concert at St. Ignatius Catholic Church featuring When We No Longer Touch, the first requiem dedicated to those lost to AIDS, with soprano Ellie Dehn and orchestra. In 1981 a planned chorus concert at the church had been canceled.
- October 27: a groundbreaking for a permanent tribute at the National AIDS Memorial Grove to singers who died of AIDS, followed by the “Fabulous at 40” luncheon at the Empire Ballroom with Curt Branom of Beach Blanket Babylon and author Armistead Maupin.
- October 28: a “Sunday’s a Drag” brunch in the Starlight Room of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel.
“Here we are almost 40 years later, and we’ll be performing at their invitation!”
— Dr. Tim Seelig, as quoted by the Bay Area Reporter
Sources
This post summarizes reporting by the Bay Area Reporter. Details attributed to those outlets are their reporting; see the sources below.
- Bay Area Reporter, “SFGMC marks 40 years” by David-Elijah Nahmod, October 23, 2018. Read the original story
