The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and The Chan National Queer Arts Center have announced Season 49: RISING, a 2026–27 season about the power of music to bring people together and raise voices. As the San Francisco Bay Times reported, it is the first season under CEO Lane Sugata, with Artistic Director Jake Stensberg on the podium, and it looks ahead to the chorus’s 50th anniversary.
On the mainstage
According to the Bay Times, mainstage concerts feature a 250-voice chorus, about a dozen dancers and an eight-piece band:
- Holiday Spectacular: December 4–5, 2026 at the Golden Gate Theatre, December 19 at UC Berkeley and December 20 at Sonoma State, with Home for the Holidays at the Castro Theatre on Christmas Eve.
- One-Hit Wonders: March 20, 2027 at the Curran Theatre.
- DIVAS!: June 2027 at the Curran Theatre.
At The Chan
- Make Them Hear You, October 17, 2026
- Holiday Sing-Along, December 10
- Queer Lunar New Year with GAPA, February 19, 2027, ringing in the Year of the Goat
- Britpop Sing-Along hosted by Lady Camden, March 11
- Divas Sing-Along, June 17
The Crescendo Benefit Gala returns April 17, 2027 at the Westin St. Francis. OperaWire’s season listing counts eight productions between October 2026 and June 2027.
“The world needs art like this. Joy like this. Resistance like this.”
— Artistic Director Jake Stensberg, as quoted by the San Francisco Bay Times
See the season and get tickets
Photos: Pearson Photography
Sources
This post summarizes reporting by the San Francisco Bay Times and OperaWire. Details attributed to those outlets are their reporting; see the sources below.
- San Francisco Bay Times, “San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Announces Season 49: RISING”, August 27, 2026. Read the original story
- OperaWire, “San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Unveils 2026-27 Programming” by Afton Markay, August 29, 2026. Read the original story
Sources
