Hi SFGMC Friend,
Thank you to everyone who has welcomed me so warmly as I begin my new role as CEO of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and The Chan National Queer Arts Center, and to the chorus members, audience members, board, staff, donors, funders, and partners who have sustained this organization for nearly five decades.
I come to SFGMC after more than 20 years in arts leadership and philanthropy, most recently at the Ford Foundation and previously as the founding executive director of Dance/NYC. I’m thrilled to be home in the Bay Area and humbled by the opportunity to help steward this extraordinary organization into its next chapter.
The Chorus has always been more than a chorus. Born at a pivotal moment in San Francisco’s history, it has been a civic and cultural force, using music to bring people together, stand up for our communities, and carry a movement far beyond the Bay Area. As we begin Season 49, Rising, I’m thinking not only about how we rise, but how we rise together. I believe joy and love can be more than values. They can be infrastructure and strategy. I’m excited to explore what that means for collaboration across the queer arts ecosystem, for the Chan as a home and hub for artists and community, and for the Chorus as we approach our 50th season, with deep roots in San Francisco and aspirations to contribute nationally and globally.
But I’m new, and I want to begin by listening. What has the Chorus meant to you? What do you dream for its future? Please reach out. I want to learn with you and from you as we imagine what comes next.
I hope you’ll watch this short welcome video, get to know me a little better, and, most importantly, join us for a performance soon. I can’t wait to welcome you.
With gratitude and onward,
Lane Sugata
CEO See less
Welcoming a New Chapter
Scenes from the 2026 Season 49 reveal and CEO meet-and-greet. Photography: Justin Pearson / Pearson Photography.
