About Us

GALA Choruses leads the LGBTQIA+ choral movement in North and South America. We cultivate the artistic development of 12,000+ singers from nearly 200 choruses throughout the Americas. We serve choruses small and large, urban or rural, of all voice types and genders.

Our Mission, Vision, Values
An early black and white version of the GALA logo with the full name listed as "Gay and Lesbian Performing Arts Groups," circa 1982

The Origin of GALA Choruses

Our organization was incorporated in 1983, and many of our members are the longest standing LGBTQIA+ choruses still singing today, founded as early as 1975. 

Our History
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About GALA Choruses
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What We Offer

We are best known for our quadrennial Festival, the largest LGBTQIA+ choral event in the world. GALA Choruses also hosts an annual Leadership Symposium, and we offer a variety of support, networking, and publicity opportunities for our members.

We also produce multiple resources available to all in the LGBTQIA+ choral movement regardless of their membership in GALA Choruses. We created the A New Harmony workbooks to help foster equity, access, and belonging within community choruses. We publish both the Journal of Queer Choral Studies, an open access academic and practitioner publication, and the Queer Voices podcast, which highlights diverse perspectives across the movement and captures its oral history. In addition, we commission new music to expand the LGBTQIA+ repertoire and organize a digital resource library specific to the needs of LGBTQIA+ and allied social justice choruses.

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Mission, Vision, and Values
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Our Mission

GALA Choruses supports, guides, and inspires LGBTQIA+ choruses and their allies to leverage the liberating power of singing to create harmony and equity for all.

Our Vision

A world where all voices are free.

Our Values

  • We elevate and promote the work of and accomplishments made by members of the LGBTQIA+ choral movement.
  • We educate and inspire member organizations to do their best work.
  • We foster social activism and artistic impact through choral music.
  • We provide our constituents with platforms for connection, collaboration, and creativity.
  • We are committed to serving as a change agent by doing the work that cultivates spaces that create equity, access, and belonging for our membership.

Gender Language Statement

GALA Choruses strives for gender neutrality with regards to language in recognition of the many genders represented within our choruses, singing sections, and the LGBTQIA+ community. Please keep these guidelines in mind when communicating within the GALA community.

There are gender-inclusive ways that you can address our community when speaking in a workshop or session. Words like “people,” “folks,” or simply “everyone” are more gender-neutral options (as opposed to “ladies and gentlemen”). Please refer to sections by voice part rather than gender, i.e.; “tenors and sopranos” rather than “men and women.”

We know that gender-specific language is a part of our culture and we don’t expect each individual to overcome years of conditioning overnight. We appreciate your effort to communicate in the most gender-neutral way possible.

You can make a difference.

When you support GALA Choruses, you support a global movement fostering understanding and hope for the LGBTQIA+ community.

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