1975

The gay chorus movement began in 1975 with the founding of the Anna Crusis Women’s Chorus, known now as the Anna Crusis Feminist Chorus.

1978

The San Francisco Gay Men’s chorus was founded three years later in 1978. The group’s first public performance was at a vigil for Harvey Milk, California’s first openly gay public official, following his assassination.

1981

Jerry Davis came up with the idea for the PGMC after listening to a recording of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. He worked with librarian Michael Rechel, who served as the group’s musical director. The group’s first public performance was a series of 10-minute shows at 14 local gay venues, starting with Odyssey II.

1982

A fifty-member PGMC held their first ever concerts on Sunday April 25 and Monday April 26 at DCA Disco (204 S. Camac St. - now the home of Voyeur). They were directed by Michael Rechel, tickets were $5 and the program started at 8pm and lasted two hours. Music included classical and Broadway numbers.

1983

The Philadelphia Inquirer begins covering the growing number of AIDS cases in the city and PGMC is mentioned as a group of people who can help raise money.

1986

Jack Austin, newly appointed conductor, led PGMC to performs its holiday concert “Share the Joy” on 12/13 at the Ethical Society, including music by Randall Thompson, Holst, Faure, Poulenc, Bach and Leroy Anderson. Carol singing followed.

1989

PGMC travels to Seattle, Washington to perform at GALA Choruses alongside 2,500 delegates from LGBTQ choruses from all over the country.

1992

PGMC was one of many organizations honored at the 15th annual Lambda Awards. State Senator Vincent Fumo was the feature honoree and Mayor Ed Rendell was the host.

2004

Joe Buches is appointed Artistic Director of the chorus. Joe's first concert leading the 35 member strong chorus was "The Sound of Philadelphia" at the Ethical Society on 3/12 and 3/13.

2005

A few members of PGMC alongside former members of fellow gay men’s chorus, Spruce Street Singers, join with a handful of women to form a new LGBTQ choral group called Philadelphia Voices of Pride.

PGMC performs the National Anthem for the third annual Phillies “Gay Day” on 8/18. This game was notable due to a widely covered confrontation between Christian fundamentalist group Repent America and other fans in attendance.

2006

PGMC appeared as a guest alongside The Carmen Dee Orchestra at Joan Rivers’ show “Live & Uncensored in Philadelphia” on 10/28 at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA.

2010

PGMC participated in SundayOUT! with special guest Anthony Rapp, who originated the role of Mark in Broadway’s “Rent.”

PGMC sings the National Anthem at the first ever raising of the Pride Flag at City Hall under Mayor Michael Nutter.  More than 400 people gathered outside City Hall for the ceremony, which marked the first time a rainbow flag was raised next to the country’s flag at any city municipal building. [Source]

On October 30, 2010, comedian Margaret Cho brought her "Cho Dependent" tour to the Caesears in Atlantic City with special performance from PGMC.

2011

PGMC performs at “Holiday Dreams On Ice” and Olympic ice show featuring Johnny Weir on December 23.. [Source]

2012

PGMC performs during the grand-opening weekend at Barnes’ Foundation Art Museum at its new location on May 26th. [Source]

PGMC performs at the dedication of the “Gittings Way” sign in honor of Barbara Gittings, known by many as the mother of the gay-rights movement on 10/1. [Source]

2014

PGMC's Youth Engagement program is founded.

Then PGMC Director, Joe Buches, marries husband Glen Abrams at Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion. The two met in 2004 as members of PGMC. [Source]

PGMC became the first LGBT organization to participate in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 27th. This was also the parade’s 95th anniversary. [Source]

2015

PGMC moves to the Suzanne Roberts Theatre following the closing of the Prince Theater and performs “Proud Marys: A Diva-Sing-A-Long” from March 12th - 14th.

On June 26th PGMC closes out the “Decision Day” rally to celebrate the SCOTUS ruling in Hodges v. Obergefell in favor of same-sex marriage.

PGMC performs at the ceremony for the 50th anniversary of the LGBT rights protests on Sat. July 4. We're pictured with Jim Obergefell, who won the Supreme Court case on gay marriage.

2017

PGMC performed at the kick-off to pride at City Hall on June 8th. This was noteworthy as the debut of the Philadelphia Pride flag, which was the first to include black and brown stripes. 

2018

PGMC performs Hallelujah with Rufus Wainwright and the Philly Pops at the Kimmel Center on January 19th  [Source]



Ahead of its 37th season, PGMC announced a rebrand that included changes to the annual fundraiser as well as a new logo and updated mission. [Source]

2019

PGMC announces its first ever Executive Director, David Bielenberg. Bielenberg had more than two decades of experience as an arts director and served as executive director of Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C prior to PGMC. He lead the group’s three-year strategic plan that emphasizeD funding, membership engagement, increasing diversity and other initiatives. [Source] [An Inteview with David Bielenberg]

PGMC performed behind Patti Lupone in “Don’t Monkey with Broadway,” on. June 9 at Kimmel’s Verizon Hall.

PGMC teams up with ANNA Crusis to perform the Philly premiere of “Quiet No More,” a choral-music suite co-commissioned by the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles on June 22 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. [Source] Members of both groups traveled to NYC for a performance with other choruses at Carnegie Hall on June 27.

On October 2nd, PGMC performed alongside Hugh Jackman in his show, "The Man. The Music. The Tour." at the Wells Fargo Center.

2020

The chorus moved to virtual meetings and put together a virtual concert in June for Pride as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic [Source]

PGMC attended a Facebook forum to address racism in the performance industry in Philadelphia. Difficult conversations pushed PGMC to respond to call outs of anti-trans bias and racism. [Source]

2021

PGMC performs it's first in-person concert in two years. “Shine”, the annual holiday concert marked the 40th season and was held December 2nd - 4th at the Church of the Holy Communion. [Source]

2022

33 members of PGMC performed at the first free Philadelphia Orchestra Pride concert on June 2 at Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall. It was hosted by Martha Graham Cracker and conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

2023

PGMC participates in the inaugural OurFest celebrations (replacing OutFest) by marching in the parade.

PGMC performs at the very first Mazzoni Center Honors concert to celebrate the music of Composer Stephen Schwartz on November 13th at Kimmel’s Verizon Hall. 

2024

Joe Buches retires as Artistic Director & Conductor after 20 years. His final concert, "Live Out Loud" featured many prominent queer choral works. [Source]

2025

Michael Semancik was announced as full-time Artistic Director and Conductor of the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus in February after a year of serving as Interim. [Source]

The chorus moves out of the Church of the Holy Communion in Rittenhouse to the Philadelphia Boys Choir Building in Spring Garden to accommodate the growing group of over 150 members.