Our history.

Long Island Gay Men's Chorus, Inc. was established as a gay male chorus in 2008, the same year it became an entity duly incorporated in the State of New York as a charitable organization. We have achieved 501(c)(3) status as a nonprofit organization and, as such, all donations to the Chorus are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. LIGMC joined the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA) — an international organization with 9,500 members and 180 choruses. Its inaugural concert was a holiday concert performed at the Staller Center for the Arts at SUNY Stony Brook, in conjunction with the Camerata singers, a premiere chamber singing group at the University.

The catalyst to create the LIGMC occurred one night when TiVo recorded a documentary on LOGO about the Turtle Creek Chorale, an all-men's gay chorus based in Texas. After LIGMC founder Carlos Serrano finished watching that documentary that night, the first email was sent out to the Yahoo LI-Pride Message Boards. When that first email went out, it was to "feel out" the community to see if there was any interest out there for such a chorus here on Long Island. Immediately the responses came in. It was then that it was decided that there was a need to take this venture seriously.

The Long Island Gay Men's Chorus earned its name right from the start and was advertised as such. A simple plea for musicians and singers was the basic message sent out in those early emails. The response from that point forward was overwhelming. The list of men grew from 5 to 15 very quickly, and before long there was a list of 30 men who were scheduled to audition. Now all that was needed was an artistic director and an accompanist. Most of those men who answered those early ads were just your normal guy who wanted to sing in an all-gay men's chorus, and figured instead of commuting to Manhattan every week, why not look into this chorus right here on Long Island? LIGMC's first Artistic Director, Joseph Barone, found the LIGMC and auditions were held! The response was so overwhelming that a second audition was needed. And even after that point, men were still inquiring about auditioning. A few more men joined in the first few weeks of rehearsal. A decision was made to have an audition cut-off point of 3 weeks into rehearsal, and to hold auditions in January for a spring season. Twenty-three men formed the original ranks of singers for the first season. Provisional status was offered to several men (provisional status is for those who show a huge desire to sing, have a good voice, but have some problems with holding harmonies or reading sheet music, and therefore are given the chance to learn and work on those skills while joining us at rehearsals), enabling the LIGMC the ability to grow talent from within.

Future plans for concerts include performing arts centers all across Long Island. Already, in the first 6 months of being formed, the LIGMC is an active participant in the gay as well as straight communities of Long Island. This means performing at fundraisers, parties, weddings, funerals, church services, memorial services, Pride parades, restaurants, wineries, etc. The Long Island Gay Men's Chorus is rapidly becoming a vital and substantial organization on Long Island.

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