A brief note from Pax Ahimsa Gethen on an outreach event we had before our big fall 2013 concert, "We Celebrate!". On July 5, 2013, we sang at Union Square, San Francisco for the opening ceremony of the International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs 30th annual convention, We performed the national anthems of the three main participating countries: The United States, Canada, and Japan. You can watch the video on our Facebook page.

We Celebrate!, First Unitarian Universalist Church, San Francisco, November 16, 2013.

This concert was a collaborative endeavor between LGCSF, the USF University Choir, and the choruses of Lick-Wilmerding High School. In his notes, Billy Sauerland thanked all of the choristers for their commitment and incredible work put into learning this wonderful and challenging repertoire. He also wrote "We celebrate the composers of tonight's concert, who range from Beethoven to Paul McCartney. We celebrate the centennial of Benjamin Britten, one of the foremost British composers of the last century. We are especially grateful to Jack Dubowsky from whom we commissioned "Harvey Milk: A Cantata" in 2012, and who has given us a beautifully crafted new version for chorus and woodwind quartet, which we are premiering in tonight's concert. We celebrate David Conte not only for writing the emotionally stiffing and exquisite "Elegy for Matthew," but also for giving freely of his time to work with us on the piece.

We opened the program with "This Is a Celebration" by Jerry Estes, followed by "Celebration" by Nancy Telfer. Next we sang "Jubilate Deo" by Benjamin Britten which was followed by "Elegischer Gesang" by Ludwig van B. We closed the first half with David Conte's "Elegy for Matthew." I included the lyric sheet for this for you to read.

We opened the second half with "Celebrate!" by Don Tyler and followed with "Celebration" from Sir Paul McCartney's "Standing Stone." As you can see we were all about celebration in this concert. Next on the program was Jack Curtis Dubowsky's revised with string quartet version of "Harvey Milk: A Cantata." The concert finished with all of us singing "Sing Joy!" by Mac Huff.

We celebrated the friendships and community formed from this collaboration working with Dr. Rebecca Seeman, director of the USF Choir, David Conte and all of the singers who joined us for this thrilling evening of music making. Our audience were very much appreciative of all of our hard work and responded in kind.

I will be taking a break from the History Corner until next year where we will start with Love Bites February, 2014. See you all at either the Dance Along Nutcracker or Naughty and Nice.

Cheers and love to you all for this wonderful year of making music with you,

Michael Lucero

35th Annual Pride Concert - Ripped from the Headlines! - Music Celebrating LGBT Stories. San Francisco Conservatory of Music, June 22, 2013.

This was our second Pride concert in a row in the beautiful theatre of the SF Conservatory of Music. There were two performances, one at 6 pm and 9 pm so it was a busy night for all the groups involved. The emcee for the shows was Supervisor Scott Wiener. The groups who performed were the SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, the Metropolitan Community Church Choir, Vocal Minority of SFGMC, Oakland/East Bay Gay Men's Chorus and of course LGCSF.

The concert opened with the Band playing "Strike Up the Band" followed by the combined choruses and Band singing "I Hear America Singing" and "Credo." The Band followed with "The Music-Makers" and was followed by the MCC Choir singing "I'm Not Afraid," "The Storm is Passing Over," "Joyful, Joyful," and "Amen." Then we followed with "Let Me Entertain You," "Rhythm of Life," "This Marriage," and "Seize the Day." Vocal Minority then sang "Opera Maxima" and "Rhythm Medley." OEBGMC then came on and performed "Stouthearted Men," "Brand New Boyfriend/Boys Like Me," "What Greater Thing," and "Marry Us." The Band came back on with "The Wizard of Oz," and the combined choruses joined to sing the finale "A New Songs Measure," and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables/I Am What I Am."

As with all of our past Pride concerts, this was another wonderful evening of collaboration and making and singing wonderful, inspiring music and sharing it with our very appreciative audiences.

Next week's entry will be "We Celebrate."

Cheers, Michael Lucero