Christmas 2010 marked a changing of the guard.
A fond farewell
The Examiner’s top holiday pick on December 24, 2010, was “Home for the Holidays” at the Castro Theatre, three sold-out shows that marked Artistic Director Kathleen McGuire’s final appearances after more than a decade. The program included Whitney Houston’s version of “Joy to the World,” a “Sleigh Ride” medley, a gospel carol singalong and “Auld Lang Syne,” along with an auction to conduct the chorus in one number. Guests included Karen Hart, Donna Sachet and the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco. Board president Michael Tate said the chorus would sing “Irish Blessing,” a song McGuire had conducted many times, to her.
“We’re pulling out all the stops.”
— Kathleen McGuire, as quoted by the Examiner
“The grandfather of the movement”
Two days later, the Examiner’s Lisa Geduldig profiled Timothy Seelig, who took over on January 1, 2011. He had spent 20 years with the Turtle Creek Chorale in Dallas, the chorus that hosted SFGMC on its first national tour in 1981. He had also founded The Women’s Chorus of Dallas. He talked about struggling with his orientation while serving as a minister at a large Southern Baptist church, and about entering gay choral music just as AIDS hit. Having worked with more than 40 LGBTQ choruses, he called SFGMC the grandfather of the movement and the pinnacle of them all, and said being chosen felt like winning the lottery.
From the archives: this post retells reporting by the San Francisco Examiner. The original articles survive only in newspaper archives, so we have told the story here in our own words. Details attributed to those outlets are their reporting; see the sources below.
Sources
- San Francisco Examiner, “Fond farewell to chorus director”, December 24, 2010. sfexaminer.com
- San Francisco Examiner, “Credo: Timothy Seelig” by Lisa Geduldig, December 26, 2010. sfexaminer.com
