Final post

This will be my last posting as Artistic Director of the Gateway Men’s Chorus of Saint Louis.  After three seasons, I am leaving to pursue other interests in choral music and musical theatre.  My successor is my predecessor, Al Fischer, in whose capable hands and energetic spirit I leave this ensemble.

GMC is a markedly different choral ensemble now.  We have forged a new sense of community engagement.  We have strengthened our budget and enlarged our audience.  Our singing membership, while not at all where I would wish it in size, is larger than three years ago.  And most importantly, audiences and members alike are noting the great improvement in sound and style, tone and timbre.

During the last three years, we have auditioned for and appeared on the first-cut national round of America’s Got Talent.  We released two new compact disc recordings, one of studio takes of pieces from my first two years, and the other (to be released next month) of live tracks from this season.  We partnered with the Indianapolis choir in home & home concerts last year to perform a wonderful work entitled When we no longer touch.  And we hosted guest artist Christine Brewer in her first appearance with GMC in nine years.

This isn’t a bad track record at all!

Many of the tasks that started on my watch will continue, and perhaps be completed, on someone else’s watch.  The work of building an administrative infrastructure, of raising funds, of attracting new members and retaining current members, will continue.

I’m especially grateful to Chris Maclellan, our board president for the past two years, for his counsel and guidance, and his kind and welcoming ear and shoulder, as we have soldiered together in building a better and stronger and more robust GMC.

I wish this organization, the AD, and those who lead it and sing in it and support all the best as GMC enters its 25th season.

 

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