The Gay Men's Chorus of LA Presents Gala Concert on 8/25

Join the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles as they welcome special guests (to be announced) to celebrate the launch of their 30th anniversary season with a choral repertoire of jazz, pop, classical, Broadway and more. Honorary Chairs for this event include: Angela Lansbury, Lily Tomlin, Liz Torres, Dr. Iris Levine, Hon. Diane Feinstein, Hon. Barbara Boxer and Hon. Antonio Villiaraigosa, among others.

On Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 8:00pm at Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles. Tickets are$25 - $80 and available by calling Ticketmaster at 800-523-1515 or www.ticketmaster.com.

On a July night in 1979, a small group of men opened the doors to a room at the Plummer Park Community Center in Los Angeles (now West Hollywood) and waited and wondered if anybody would show up. They had posted flyers around the neighborhood announcing the formation of a new gay chorus and this night was to be its first rehearsal. To their great surprise, 99 men appeared and a chorus was born. Within three months of that rehearsal, founding director Harold Kjellberg led the group through its first major event: the March on Washington, D.C. and the first national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) concert at the Washington Memorial. While public understanding of gay life has evolved much since 1979, there is still fierce resistance to lasting change by opponents to LGBT equality. And the road to today has not always been easy. Through the height of the AIDS crisis, the Chorus lost over 150 members. Only 12 original members remain. As a result, GMCLA has a deep history of service within the LGBT community, singing at countless memorials, making and commissioning music that helps the community to mourn, to celebrate, to dream, and to prepare for victory.  For over 25 years, the Chorus has built an international reputation for musical excellence while remaining deeply rooted in service to the Los Angeles community. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "one of the last important links to a glorious tradition in music," GMCLA has more than doubled in size to 226 singers, added professional and artistic staff, toured nationally and internationally, released thirteen compact discs, commissioned more than 300 new works and arrangements and appeared frequently on national television. The Chorus membership donates over 60,000 volunteer hours annually to make GMCLA's mission of musical excellence and community partnership a reality.

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