Montrose Singers/Gay Men's Chorus Collection

Collection

Identifier: MS 0616

Staff Only

Finding aid note: Stored onsite at the Woodson Research Center.

Scope and Contents Note

This collection consists of seven series, which contain audio from performances by the Montrose Singers, copies of programs from various shows, photographs of the group, and a brief history of the group. More specifically, included is a timeline of the group's performances, interview transcripts from the Gay Music Heritage show in 2010, and an account of the problems faced by the choir in the late 1980s. Additionally this series contains audio from concerts performed alongside HeartSong, a Houston lesbian chorus, and programs from those events.

All audio, visual, and textual media exist in digital formats. Please Series VIII for more information.

Dates

Creation: 1979 - 2010

Creator

Houston Gay Men's Chorus (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

This material is open for research. Please be aware that this collection only exists in digital form. Please see Series VIII for more instructions regarding access.

Conditions Governing Access

Stored onsite at the Woodson Research Center.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish from this material must be obtained from JD Doyle. Please contact the Woodson Research Center for more information.

Biographical/Historical Note

Originally, the Montrose Marching Band was founded for the March on Washington on October 14, 1979. Andy Mills, a member of the band, worked to preserve the band after the conclusion of the march. In its place, he founded the Montrose Symphonic Band and the Montrose Singers in 1979. It was one of the first five gay men's choruses to be founded in the United States.

John-Michael Albert, a published composer with a B.A. in Music from the University of the South and a Master of Music in Conducting from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, was also a very early and influential member of the Montrose Singers. For 15 years, starting in 1981, he composed choral pieces for and conducted the chorus.

The Montrose Singers were among the twelve choruses that founded the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA) and have since perforemd alongside other choruses in the Houston community. Between 1988 and 1995, the group sang alongside HeartSong, a lesbian chorus group also from Houston.

In 1992, the group changed its name to the Houston Gay Men's Chorus. The group still exists today and is now part of a larger umbrella organization called Bayou City Performing Arts.

--Taken from http://www.queermusicheritage.us/nov2010m3.html and http://www.mygayhouston.com/listings/Bayou-City-Performing-Arts/23174/