The Stonewall Chorale

Based in New York City, The Stonewall Chorale originated in December 1977 as the Gotham Male Chorus, and specialized in Gregorian Chant and Renaissance music. In 1979, women joined the chorus for the first time, and the name was changed to Stonewall Chorale, the nation’s first Lesbian and Gay chorus. The Chorale has a unique place in New York’s cultural landscape as the first and only LGBTQ choir focusing on contemporary and classical choral music, including newly commissioned works. Classic FM identified The Stonewall Chorale as one of the Top 12 LGBTQ+ Classical Musical Ensembles Around the World. 

The Stonewall Chorale was a founding member of GALA (The Gay And Lesbian Association Of Choruses). In 1983 at Lincoln Center, the Chorale opened the first national festival organized and sponsored by GALA, now an international organization with more than 150 member choruses.

The Stonewall Chorale is among the various LGBTQ interest groups that emerged in major cities and proved crucial to creating support networks during the AIDS crisis. Stonewall has performed in public, community, civic, and corporate venues and remained – for more than four decades – a reminder of the power of music to foster community.

In 2019, the Chorale presented the New York premiere of "Quiet No More," a piece commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.  It was co-commissioned by gay choruses from around the US, with contemporary jazz and rock by Ann Hampton Callaway, Julian Hornik, Michael McElroy (Broadway Inspirational Voices), and Our Lady J (Pose, Transparent), among others. The Chorale later joined gay choruses around the country to perform the piece at Carnegie Hall.

We were less than two weeks away from our March 2020 concert Here Comes The Sun when the pandemic shut everything down. For our entirely virtual 44th season, we met weekly to practice sight-singing, explore LGBTQIA+ history, and socialize as a community. We also spent that season exploring how to become a more equitable and inclusive group, working through GALA's New Harmony curriculum on race and ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, community engagement, accessibility, and socio-economic status. We developed community standards that both celebrate our history and chart a path forward for the nation's first gay and lesbian choir.

Our devotion to coming together in song during the pandemic was featured in the Columbia News.

In June 2023, we concluded our 46th season and celebrated 20 seasons of Cynthia Powell as our Artistic Director. Our spring 2023 concert, Considering Matthew Shepard, was a full-length piece commemorating the murder of this young gay man on the 25th anniversary.  At our Pride 2023 Concert, we featured a drag queen story hour in defiance of the nationwide backlash. This was a joyful evening of history, humor and pop music through the decades.  We also increased our community outreach efforts, performing at two temples.

Your gift will help us offer singer scholarships,  underwrite the cost of our guest artists and instrumentalists, and enable us to invest in high-quality video capabilities to expand our online reach. On this GiveOUT Day, we appreciate whatever support you can provide to the nation's first gay and lesbian choir!