Chicago gay mens chorus

ORGANIZATION | Inducted 2001

Since 1983, the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus has offered audiences a mixture of choral ensemble work and musical theater presented by more than 1,000 past and present members. Watch for tax revisions. Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2001 and currently has four cd-recordings available: Cool Yule, featuring jazzy holiday selections; I Will Be Loved Tonight, a collection of our favorite love (and not-so-in-love) songs; Favorite Things, our second celebration of holiday music; and So Happy Together: Festival Gems, featuring all live performances from our appearances at the last three quadrennial GALA Festivals.

We produce professional-quality shows that combine the best elements of musical theater, cabaret and traditional choral performance. Appearances have occurred at “A Show of Concern,” sponsored by Marshall Field’s; “Not Just Song and Dance,” for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago; receptions hosted by the major’s office; AIDS Walk Chicago; a Midwestern gathering of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG); the Art Against AIDS event; a display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt; and the Illinois state capitol.

Outreach concerts are also performed at colleges such as Northwestern University and the University of Chicago to help young people address issues of sexual orientation.

The chorus performed at “Opening the Curtain to Our Hearts,” a scholarship fund-raiser at the Auditorium Theatre for people in need as a result of the September 11 attacks on New York’s World Trade Center.

Pinafore and our original work – Ten Commandments – The Musical; traditional choral concerts and intimate cabaret presentations-all punctuated with our signature joyous irreverence.

CGMC has traveled extensively across North America, representing Chicago in cities including Montreal, New York, Denver, Miami, Los Angeles and New Orleans.

It has also hosted choruses from across the United States and Europe. We’ve sung at the Auditorium Theater honoring the victims of Sept. Our always-memorable performances have included original musical revues; five popular productions celebrating the Sidetrack show tune experience; full-length book musicals including The Wizard of Oz, The Mikado, H.M.S.

But only CGMC can add that special “twist of gaiety” that can make each show fun, moving and memorable.

We Inspire Change

CGMC serves as ambassadors and provides a positive image to countless thousands every year. Through colorful performances that blend traditional choral music with musical theater, jazz and pop, and a gay aesthetic, we seek to delight our audiences, enrich our members and explore issues relevant to LGBT people and their allies—enlivening Chicago’s cultural landscape and creating a better community for all.

We Entertain and Enlighten

CGMC delivers a unique entertainment experience found nowhere else in the city.

Over the years, tens of thousands of audience members have been entertained.

The chorus has attained a national reputation for excellence with a wide range of performing styles. For the last three decades, we have entertained audiences across the continent with innovative musical programming exploring everything from love to politics to the sometimes fabulous, sometimes challenging world of being gay-often all at the same time.

We have also brought entertainment back home, hosting choruses from across the United States and Europe to sing with us here in Chicago.

Most recently, CGMC proudly sang “America the Beautiful” for the Illinois Marriage Equality Act bill-signing ceremony and was the featured guest choral performer for the star-studded concert, Broadway Rocks, with the Grant Park Music Festival in 2011.

We sing at smaller memorial services honoring local community leaders… and sometime our own members.