A legacy of many milestones
1979
Eighty men gather at Washington Square United Methodist Church for the first rehearsal of New York City Gay Men’s Chorus.
1980
Following a brief period of separation, the new NYCGMC reforms in September. In October, NYCGMC is called upon to participate in a community memorial service for the two men killed by a drive-by shooter at the Ramrod Bar in Chelsea.
In December, NYCGMC perform their debut holiday concert to standing room only in the Great Hall at the Cooper Union.
“The sustained cheers and standing ovations (three or four?) were proof positive that we were successfully launched. The Cooper Union debut concert demonstrated so clearly that our collective voice is both empowering for us, and powerful as a musical message to any audience hearing us express our community’s feelings in song.”
— Michael Goldstein, NYCGMC charter member
1981
NYCGMC makes its Carnegie Hall debut, becoming the first openly gay musical organization to perform in the world-renowned venue.
1982/83
NYCGMC is one of the founding members of Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA). In September ‘83, New York City is host to the first GALA Choruses Festival. 11 choruses with more than 650 singers gather to perform at Alice Tully and Avery Fisher Halls.
1984
NYCGMC is invited to perform at the Eastern Division convention of the American Choral Directors Association. The chorus is selected based on a blind tape audition, but when the ACDA learns the name of the organization, they attempt to prevent the chorus from performing and adopt a policy to prohibit appearances of any chorus with ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’ in their name. After a two-year litigation, ACDA reverses its policy.
1985
NYCGMC performs in Best of the Best, the first celebrity AIDS fundraiser in New York City, sharing the Metropolitan Opera House stage with Bette Midler, Chita Rivera, Lily Tomlin, Carol Burnett, Peter Allen, and others.
The chorus would continue to perform tirelessly at memorial services and fundraisers for HIV/AIDS related causes for the next three decades.
1986
NYCGMC attends the second GALA Choruses Festival in Minneapolis. GALA now has 45 member choruses.
1988
NYCGMC embarks on their first European tour performing in London, Amsterdam, Cologne, and Paris.
1989
NYCGMC presents a sold-out concert in Avery Fisher Hall celebrating the music of Stephen Sondheim. Chorus members and audience alike are thrilled when Sondheim himself makes an unexpected appearance on stage.
1991
NYCGMC sets off on its second European tour, performing concerts in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Cologne, Munich, and Berlin. The concert in Berlin is especially poignant as citizens from both sides of the wall are now free to attend.
1992
NYCGMC attends the fourth GALA Choruses Festival in Denver. The festival now hosts 3,400 singers in 64 choruses.
1994
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, NYCGMC presents Stonewall 25 at Carnegie Hall. The concert features special guests the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, and Seattle Men’s Chorus, and includes a new commission “Flashpoint/Stonewall.”
1996
NYCGMC attends the fifth GALA Choruses Festival in Tampa. The festival is the largest yet, with 86 choruses, 23 small ensembles and 4,700 singers in attendance.
1998
NYCGMC is joined by Seattle Men’s Chorus for their third European tour, which takes them to Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, and London.
On October 19, NYCGMC joins thousands of people carrying candles down Fifth Avenue in a hastily organized Matthew Shepherd Political Funeral March.
1999
NYCGMC serenades First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at a birthday celebration in her honor featuring many of Broadway’s top celebrities.
2000
To celebrate its 20th anniversary season, NYCGMC presents The Gay Century Songbook at Carnegie Hall.
2001
NYCGMC sings at an impromptu vigil in Union Square to provide comfort for the grieving city on Sept 12, the day after the attacks on the World Trade Center.
2002
Youth Pride Chorus makes their debut in the NYCGMC concert Pride for All Ages at Carnegie Hall.
2004
NYCGMC and YPC attend the seventh GALA Choruses Festival in Montreal. 163 choruses are in attendance.
2009
NYCGMC performs the first Big Gay Sing® at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Versions of the popular sing-along show will go on to be performed by dozens of choruses all over the world.
2010
NYCGMC launches The Connect Program, aimed to bring music outside the concert hall settings to connect with people in all corners of NYC.
2012
The Connect Program begins working with Diaspora Community Services, a center in Brooklyn that supports women living with HIV. Members of NYCGMC visit the center to sing and share stories with the largely Latina and Afro-Caribbean clients, many of whom have to hide their status from friends and loved ones.
2013
NYCGMC auditions and (thankfully) is cast to play themselves in the HBO movie The Normal Heart. The scene recreates an actual appearance by the chorus in 1982 at a fundraiser for Gay Men’s Health Crisis.
Photo courtesy of HBO
2014
NYCGMC travels to Dublin for the Various Voices festival, with a stop in London for a joint concert with London Gay Men’s Chorus at Queen Elizabeth Hall.
While in Dublin, NYCGMC donates a Big Gay Sing concert in support of Marriage Equality Ireland. Performed to a sold out crowd at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, the evening raises over €35,000 for the cause. Less than a year later, Ireland becomes the first country to legalize same-sex marriage through a popular vote.
Singer/songwriter Sia asks NYCGMC to join her in a live performance of "Chandelier" at the LOGO Spotlight Awards, filmed at St John the Divine.
Photo courtesy of LOGO
Longtime NYCGMC friend and supporter Joan Rivers passes away, and at the request of her family, NYCGMC sings “There is Nothing Like a Dame”, “Hey, Big Spender” and “That’s Entertainment” at her funeral.
NYCGMC works with SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) to form the first ever chorus of LGBT Elders. The Elders Chorus makes their concert debut in the NYCGMC Holiday Spectacular: Home for the Holidays.
"Our performances were received with standing ovations from the audience, and on our part, it was like we were telling the audience and the community, 'Hey, we’re here. We are not done yet! You’ll hear from us again! Stay tuned!'"
- Jay Gutierrez, Elders Chorus member
2015
NYCGMC co-commissions Tyler’s Suite, a collection of songs honoring the life of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers freshman whose 2010 suicide brought national attention to the issue of cyberbullying. NYCGMC presents a special performance of Tyler’s Suite in Ridgewood, NJ, Tyler’s hometown.
The Drama League NY honors Bernadette Peters at their Centennial Gala, and NYCGMC sings “Sunday” from Sunday in the Park With George as the surprise finale.
NYCGMC guest stars in the NY Philharmonic’s 2015 holiday concert Oh, What Fun! at David Geffen Hall. It’s the first collaboration between the two venerable organizations.
2016
NYCGMC grows to a record 265 singers!
Alan Cumming invites NYCGMC to guest star in Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs with Friends at Carnegie Hall.
NYCGMC launches a new brand. #beyondsensational
NYCGMC appears on Good Morning America to offer a song of hope for those in grief after the mass shooting at a gay club in Orlando.
2019
QUIET NO MORE 2019 concert performance at Carnegie Hall.
NYCGMC commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising in NYC, as well as the 40th anniversary of the founding of NYCGMC, with a brand new choral music suite, co-commissioned by NYCGMC and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. The piece had performances by choruses throughout the US in 2019, the largest collaboration in the history of LGBTQ choruses.
2020-2021
With the COVID-19 pandemic hitting NYC in March ‘20 - NYCGMC suspended their 40th season and halted all rehearsals and future performances until further notice per federal and city health guidelines.
During June of ‘20, NYCGMC members sang from home and came together in a virtual display of strength, hope, and courage. With numerous “at-home” arrangements, one stuck out in a new light, “Beautiful City”
2022
NYCGMC returns to in-person auditions, rehearsals, and performances kicking off Season 42. With new beginnings, we welcomed an outrageous…70 NEW MEMBERS!
NYCGMC performs at their first concert since 2019 at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. This concert was called “BEGINNINGS”.
During the summer of 2022, NYCGMC could be found all over the city performing at numerous city events celebrating Pride Month and other special events.
One of these events include the 75th Tony Awards…yes THE TONY AWARDS. With a small group of singers on stage, the rest of our chorus was invited to attend the award show in-person at The Radio City Music Hall.
Our chorus was selected to sing MAME from the musical “MAME“ to honor Angela Lansbury in a tribute as she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Theatre Wing. This was definitely a memory of our chorus, never to be forgotten.
Entering Season 43, NYCGMC welcomes close to 50 new members in the fall of 2022. We also welcomed 2 new directors! John D. Carrion, Executive Director and Johnny Atorino, Artistic Director of NYCGMC.
Our last concert of 2022, was our Winter Concert: TWINKLY LIGHTS, Songs for a Gayer Winter. We don’t like to say we can control the weather but…we literally made it snow on stage❄️
Check out some BTS footage from this latest concert below!
Past Seasons
For a complete list of concerts in past seasons, visit our page on Wikipedia.
NYCGMC Alumni Association
Have you sung a concert with the NYCGMC? Have you volunteered as a non-singing member of the chorus? You are an alumnus! Visit the New York City Gay Men's Chorus Alumni Association page on Facebook to stay connected with other alumni, get updates on events and concerts, and more.
