New York City Gay Men’s Chorus Commemorates 50th Anniversary Of Stonewall Uprising On June 27 At Carnegie Hall

NYCGMC Performs Quiet No More: A Choral Celebration of Stonewall50,
Together with Over 500 Members from Peer Choruses Across the Country

New York, NY, May 14, 2019—The New York City Gay Men’s Chorus (NYCGMC) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising on Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, presenting the New York premiere of Quiet No More: A Choral Celebration of Stonewall50, a new choral suite written by a diverse group of LGBTQ composers, including Tony nominated singer/songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway, director of Broadway Inspirational Voices Michael McElroy,

writer and producer on Golden Globe ®-nominated TV series Pose Our Lady J, musical theater composers Julian Hornik and Mike Shaieb, and Artistic Director of One Voice Chorus Jane Ramseyer Miller. The performance will directly coincide with when the Stonewall riots began, fifty years prior.

Quiet No More is co-commissioned by the NYCGMC and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, and coincides with the first ever World Pride in New York City, in addition to the 40th anniversary of the NYCGMC.

Through choral singing and spoken word, Quiet No More examines the vast legacy and worldwide change towards more equitable rights for the LGBTQ population that resulted from the six days of the Stonewall riots in June 1969 in New York City’s West Village, giving listeners a nuanced portrayal of what happened during the riots, while dispelling “urban legends”, revealing surprising details, and inspiring audiences to have a similar effect in their own communities.

Joining the NYCGMC are over 500 singers from across the country, including representatives from ANNA Crusis (Philadelphia), Denver Men’s Chorus, Denver Women’s Chorus, Heartland Men’s Chorus (Kansas City, MO), Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, OurSong (Atlanta), Palm Springs Gay Men’s Chorus, Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus, Stonewall Chorale (NYC), and Triad Pride (North Carolina). Quiet No More will be performed by 25 choruses throughout the United States, marking the largest collaboration in the history of LGBTQ choruses.

“To create Quiet No More, we chose LGBTQ composers who had a range of original and distinctive voices, so that the piece would be like a mosaic of perspectives on the story,” said Dr. Charles Beale, Artistic Director of the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus. “We wanted the piece to facilitate a truly national celebration of the Stonewall Uprising—a vast community of singers across the US, coming together with one voice at a time of celebration and also, as it has turned out, of national crisis and new oppressions.” 

Concert Information
QUIET NO MORE: A CHORAL CELEBRATION OF STONEWALL50
New York City Gay Men’s Chorus
Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall

Co-commissioned by the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus and Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles
Dr. Charles Beale, Artistic Director, New York City Gay Men’s Chorus
Gavin Thrasher, Interim Artistic Director & Youth Programs Director, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles

Ticket Information
Concert-only tickets, priced from $22.50, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, at 57th and Seventh, or by phone at CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800, or at carnegiehall.org.

About the Artists

New York City Gay Men’s Chorus (NYCGMC) is a world-class, world-renowned New York institution and a pioneering voice for the LGBTQ community, comprised of more than 250 talented singers of various ages, backgrounds, and experiences. Together, the chorus produces a vibrant sound and energy that audiences can feel and connect with. Through the power of this sound and spectacular performances, the NYCGMC are fearless champions for love, equality, and acceptance. Founded in 1980, the chorus has formed a strong bond with devoted followers and continues to make lasting connections with new and diverse audiences. NYCGMC sings in every style from classical to pop, Broadway to gospel, and from cultures all over the world. As artists, chorus members listen to the changing world around them, using it to transform what they hear into music. Chorus members sing to challenge perceptions of the LGBTQ community, to combat fear and hatred, to encourage compassion and human connection, and to thrill with the superb quality of their sound. Through the NYCGMC’s music, audiences mourn losses, cheer victories, find unconditional acceptance, and celebrate life. The chorus performs in a variety of settings, including special, private, and corporate events, concerts, television appearances, festivals, Broadway/theatre productions, conferences, weddings, parties, fundraisers, and community events. For more information, please visit nycgmc.org.

Ann Hampton Callaway is one of the leading champions of the great American Songbook, having made her mark as a singer, pianist, composer, lyricist, arranger, actress, educator, TV host and producer. Voted recently by Broadwayworld.com as "Performer of the Year" Ann’s unique singing style blends jazz and traditional pop, making her a mainstay in concert halls, theaters and jazz clubs as well as in the recording studio, on television, and in film. She is best known for Tony-nominated performance in the hit Broadway musical Swing! and for writing and singing the theme song to the hit TV series The Nanny. Callaway is a Platinum Award winning writer whose songs are featured on seven of Barbra Streisand's recent recordings. The only composer to have collaborated with Cole Porter, she has also written songs with Carole King, Rolf Lovland and Barbara Carroll to name a few. Ann has been a special guest performer with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood, and is featured at many of the Carnegie Hall tributes. She has sung with more than thirty of the world's top orchestras and big bands, and has performed for President Clinton in Washington, D.C. and at President Gorbachev's Youth Peace Summit in Moscow.

Julian Hornik is a composer, lyricist, and librettist based in Brooklyn. He wrote the music and lyrics for Giovanni's Room, an adaptation of the James Baldwin novel, and Tenn, a new musical based on the early life of Tennessee Williams, which premiered at Symphony Space in New York as a part of Project Broadway, and was subsequently produced at Yale University. Tenn was further developed at the 2018 ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop, directed by Stephen Schwartz, and the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project at Northwestern University. Julian has performed his songs at New York City Center (with Sutton Foster and Jonathan Groff), The Kennedy Center, Feinstein’s/54 Below, and with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. He is the assistant writer on the film Share (directed by Pippa Bianco), which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, where it was awarded best screenplay; Share will be released by HBO summer 2019. Julian served as the assistant to composers Pasek and Paul on the premiere of Dear Evan Hansen. Additional credits include the score for As U Like It, a queer immersive musical adaptation of the Shakespeare play, developed at the Yale School of Drama in Fall 2018. Recipient of the 2018 Sammy Cahn award and the 2017 Lucille and Jack Yellen award from the ASCAP Foundation, as well as Yale’s Norman Holmes Pearson Prize. He is a 2019 NEO Writer at the York Theater, and a member of the 2019/2020 Orchard Project Greenhouse.

Our Lady J is a writer and producer on Ryan Murphy's Golden Globe ®-nominated TV series Pose. After a career of making music in both the pop and classical worlds (Sia, American Ballet Theatre, Mark Morris Dance Group), Our Lady J transitioned to writing and producing on the Golden Globe ® and Emmy ®-winning series Transparent. Our Lady J holds the honor of being the first out trans woman to perform at Carnegie Hall, as well as the first out trans writer to be hired in a television writers room. She was awarded a Peabody Award for her work on Transparent, and has been nominated for three Writers Guild Awards and an NAACP Image Award.

Michael McElroy is the Associate Chair of the Department of Drama at Tisch School of the Arts and New York University, and is head of Vocal Performance in the New Studio on Broadway. He has performed on Broadway in such shows as: Sunday in the Park with George, Next to Normal, Rent, The Wild Party, Big River (Tony nomination 2004, Drama Desk nomination), The Who's Tommy, Miss Saigon, Patti LuPone on Broadway, and High Roller Social Pleasure Club, in addition to Hair at Encores! at City Center. Off-Broadway Michael was seen in Some Men (Second Stage Theater), Blue (Roundabout Theatre Company), Violet (original cast, Playwrights Horizons, Drama Desk Nomination), Thunder Knocking on the Door (Minetta Lane Theatre), and Richard III starring Denzel Washington at New York Shakespeare Festival. On film, Michael is featured in Rent Live on Broadway, Romance and Cigarettes, and Stonewall, and on television in Canterbury’s Law, Love Monkey, All My Children, Spin City, in concert with Michael Jackson, the 2002 Grammys, and the 2000 and 2014 Tony Awards performing with Sting. In addition to his performance credits, Michael is the Founder/Musical Director and Arranger for Broadway Inspirational Voices (BIV), which has just been awarded the 2019 Tony Award Honor for Excellence in Theater by American Theater Wing. BIV is a multi-racial gospel choir composed of Broadway performers from such shows as: Ain’t Too Proud, Aladdin, The Book of Mormon, The Lion King, Wicked, Tootsie, and The Prom. As an arranger and composer, Michael’s work has been performed on and off-Broadway, at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, New York City Center, and The Crystal Cathedral, as well as heard on TV shows and films such as America’s Got Talent, Smash, Why Did I Get Married, Preachin’ To The Choir, and the Tony Awards.

Jane Ramseyer Miller serves as Artistic Director for GALA Choruses and is in her 24th year as Artistic Director for One Voice Mixed Chorus, Minnesota's 125-voice LGBTA chorus. She holds a Masters of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Minnesota and a BA in Psychology from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. However, she credits her best musical training to growing up in a Mennonite community surrounded by four-part a cappella singing. Her compositions have been published by Earthsongs, Yelton Rhodes, and Pilgrim Press. She especially enjoys creative community collaborations and has performed choral music with The Women's Cancer Center, Shakopee Women's Prison, Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre, Kairos Dance Theatre, Mu Daiko Taiko, Teens Rock the Mic, and the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra among others. In 2008, she received the GALA Choruses Legacy Award for her innovative programming and commitment to community outreach. In 2010, she was awarded the ACDA VocalEssence Award for Creative Programming and the ACDA Minnesota Advocate for Choral Excellence (ACE) Award. In 2018, she received a Tofte Lake Artist Residency.

Michael Shaieb's works for the stage include the choral oratorios "Out Of My Range", "Alexander's House", and "Through A Glass, Darkly"; and the sixties beach party musical "Go-Go Beach". He has written the film scores for "Decay", starring Rob Zabrecky, Jackie Hoffman, and Lisa Howard; and "Last Days of Left Eye" for VH1 Rock Docs. His choral work, “The Kushner Trilogy", was commissioned by Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus and premiered at the Guthrie Theatre Tony Kushner Festival. Upcoming projects include The Astonishing Return Of... The Protagonists! a musical about middle-aged superheroes, Big Tim, a Christmas Carol II" & "Dogs That Wear Hats with bookwriter/lyricist, Stephen Tomac. Michael was born in Detroit and graduated from the Tisch School at New York University with an MFA in Graduate Musical Theatre Writing.

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Image at top of release by Matthew Raney Photography