The Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus (AGMC) is a nonprofit performing arts organization based in Atlanta, Georgia (US). The AGMC, along with the Atlanta Women's Chorus, are managed under their parent organization, Voices of Note.
The AGMC's traditional concert season includes a Holiday Concert in early December at The Cathedral of St. Phillip in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, a Spring Concert in late April, and a Pride Concert in June. The AGMC is also a strong presence in the Atlanta LGBTQ Community due to their involvement in various charitable organizations, cultural events and the annual Atlanta Gay Pride Parade.
One of the world's longest-running gay choruses, the AGMC is a member of the international Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA), and it actively participates in collaborative performances and educational efforts with GALA member choruses worldwide. The AGMC is also a member of Chorus America, an organization dedicated to the expansion of the choral movement in North America.
History
In August 1981, a time when the gay-rights movement was just gaining momentum, founding Artistic Director Jeffrey D. McIntyre and 45 singers came together to form something quite new, especially in the South—a singing group. Auditions were held on August 29 and the first rehearsal was held in September with a charter membership of 45 singers. By the time the newly formed AGMC gave its premier performance at First Metropolitan Community Church on North Highland Avenue on October 18, membership had increased to 48. More than 300 people attended. Six weeks later, the AGMC presented its first Holiday Concert, Music of the Season, featuring ten decidedly Christmas songs, on November 29, 1981, at Grant Park United Methodist Church.
The AGMC was chartered in the U.S. state of Georgia as a domestic nonprofit organization on March 3, 1982, and was granted 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service in December 1982. The AGMC joined the Gay And Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA Choruses), an international organization of gay, lesbian, and mixed choruses, on September 2, 1984. GALA has more than 185 member choruses with 10,000+ active members in 11 countries and hosts an international choral festival every four years (every three years in the 1980s). The AGMC has attended and performed in every festival since 1989, including Seattle, Washington, in 1989; Denver, Colorado, in 1992; Tampa, Florida, in 1996; San Jose, California, in 2000; Montreal, Québec, in 2004, Miami, Florida, in 2008, and Denver, Colorado, in 2012 and 2016. AGMC is set to perform at GALA Festival 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In 1984, the AGMC was the first gay organization to have a float in WSB-TV's annual Independence Day Salute 2 America Parade, and was included again in 1985. In 1994, the AGMC commissioned its first major work, Memento mori: an AIDS requiem by James Adler, which was world-premiered in 1996. In 1997 and again in 1998, the AGMC presented concerts at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in Midtown Atlanta.
The AGMC has performed joint concerts with several other GALA choruses, including the New Orleans Gay Men's Chorus in the late 1980s, One Voice of Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1993, the Gateway Men's Chorus of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1994, le Choeur International Gai de Paris (the International Gay Men's Chorus of Paris, France) in 1996, the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C., in 1999, Turtle Creek Chorale of Dallas, Texas, in 2003, and several performances over the years with the Atlanta Feminist Women's Chorus (AFWC). On July 14, 1986, the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus and the Atlanta Feminist Women's Chorus joined more than 500 other choral group members for a performance in Woodruff Park in the middle of downtown Atlanta.