On July 1, 2021, the Chronicle reported that Timothy Seelig was stepping down.
New heights
Steven Winn wrote that Seelig, 70, would lead a farewell 2021–22 season starting in September and leave the following July, with the board beginning a search for his successor. Over his decade, the chorus brought new commissions from Stephen Schwartz, Jake Heggie, Andrew Lippa and Stephen Flaherty to audiences. It also made the 2017 Lavender Pen Tour of five Southern states with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, chronicled in the documentary “Gay Chorus Deep South.”
Seelig described music and the chorus’s LGBTQ mission as equal “twins.” Andrew Lippa, whose “I Am Harvey Milk” the chorus premiered in 2013, recalled that Seelig asked for a five-minute piece and Lippa countered with a full-length work. San Francisco Symphony Chorus director Ragnar Bohlin said Seelig had made the chorus one of the city’s musical highlights.
“One of the greatest choral conductors in the country.”
— Andrew Lippa, as quoted by the Chronicle
GALA Choruses executive director Robin L. Godfrey said Seelig’s imprint on the movement would live on for generations.
Read about Tim Seelig’s final concerts
From the archives: this post retells reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle. 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 Chronicle, “Seelig stepping down at Gay Men’s Chorus” by Steven Winn, July 1, 2021. sfchronicle.com
