SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS
PRESENTS PENNED IN PINK
MUSIC BY QUEER COMPOSERS, YOUTH, AND ALLIES
PROGRAM INCLUDES PERFORMANCE BY GROUNDBREAKING ACTOR ALEX NEWELL AND THE WORLD PREMIERE OF JULIAN HORNIK’S “@QueerZ”
MARCH 26, 2020
LOUISE M. DAVIES SYMPHONY HALL
SAN FRANCISCO (January 30, 2020)—Today, San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC) Artistic Director Dr. Timothy Seelig and Executive Director Chris Verdugo announced Penned in Pink—a concert featuring music by queer composers, youth, and allies throughout the decades—performing at Davies Symphony Hall on Thursday, March 26 at 8 p.m. SFGMC will be joined by special guest Alex Newell, best-known for his powerful performance as the male-to-female transgender character ‘Unique Adams’ on Fox’s “Glee.” The Chorus will also present the world premiere of “@QueerZ,” a 12-movement musical representing the voice of youth today from the award-winning 24-year-old queer composer Julian Hornik. Tickets range in price from $25–$125 and are on-sale now by visiting www.SFGMC.org or by calling 415-392-4400.
“In the Chorus' tradition of commissioning new work, we've done it again. We commissioned recent ASCAP Foundation winner and phenom Julian Hornik to compose a 50-minute work giving voice to the issues of his generation Z. The result is extraordinary. Julian, who just graduated from Yale, has composed on topics from gun control to homelessness to a hilarious take on what it's like for an LGBTQ youth to have to choose extracurricular activities. And that is only one half,” said Seelig. “With Penned in Pink, we cross generations of all LGBTQ composers to include Sondheim to Sia and Bernstein to Ricky Martin, with a little music made famous by the likes of P!nk and Elton John.”
Verdugo added, “The new works and special guests featured at our Spring performance are a fitting match for the Chorus as it enters an unprecedented era with the National LGBTQ Center for the Arts, our new home on Valencia Street in San Francisco. Through both our programming at the Center and our mainstage concerts, SFGMC strives to create a space for daring new and established LGBTQ artists and composers to share their gifts.”
The program will also feature SFGMC’s interpretations of Elton John’s “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” Brandi Carlile’s “The Joke,” Sia’s “Chandelier,” P!nk’s “Get the Party Started,” Todrick Hall’s “Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels,” and more. Bookending the program are works by two of the all-time great gay composers: Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. The Palo Alto High School Festival Choir will join SFGMC on stage for select pieces, and Penned in Pink will also be performed at Palo Alto High School on March 28, 2020.
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About SFGMC
Founded in 1978, SFGMC sparked a nationwide LGBTQ choral movement after its first public performance at a vigil on the steps of City Hall following the assassinations of Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Since then SFGMC has been embedded in the fabric of San Francisco. It has soothed souls in pain, lifted spirits in triumph, and has remained a steadfast beacon of hope.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Dr. Timothy Seelig, SFGMC has established a heightened level of performance standards bringing renewed audience and choral industry acclaim. Recent touring schedules, recordings, and outreach programs have broadened its impact and reputation in the community while maintaining its signature blend of humor, personality and ground-breaking performances. In 2019, SFGMC acquired a historic facility that has become its permanent home for rehearsals and offices. The building also serves as the first-ever National LGBTQ Center for the Arts, a community space for LGBTQ artists and arts organizations.
For more information on SFGMC, visit www.sfgmc.org
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About Julian Hornik
Julian Hornik is a composer, lyricist, and librettist based in Brooklyn, and raised in the SF Bay Area. He wrote the book, music, and lyrics for Deathbed Edition, which premiered off-Broadway at Ars Nova’s ANT Fest, and Tenn, a new musical based on the early life of Tennessee Williams, produced at Yale in 2017. Tenn was further developed at the 2018 ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop, directed by Stephen Schwartz, and the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project at Northwestern University. Julian has performed his songs at NY City Center (with Sutton Foster and Jonathan Groff), The Kennedy Center, Feinstein’s/54 Below, Symphony Space, and with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. He is the assistant writer on Pippa Bianco’s feature film Share, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, where it was awarded best screenplay; Share debuted on HBO July 2019. Additional credits include the score for Giovanni’s Room, an adaptation of the James Baldwin novel, and Arden, a queer immersive musical take on Shakespeare’s As You Like It, developed at the Yale School of Drama. Julian served as the assistant to composers Pasek and Paul on the premiere of Dear Evan Hansen. He is the recipient of the 2018 Sammy Cahn Award and the 2017 Lucille and Jack Yellen Award from the ASCAP Foundation, as well as Yale’s Norman Holmes Pearson Prize. His commission from the NY and LA Gay Men’s Choruses commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots premiered at Carnegie Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall, respectively. Julian is a 2019 NEO Writer at the York Theater, and a member of the 2019/2020 Orchard Project Greenhouse.
About Alex Newell
Alex Newell is thrilled to be making his Broadway debut in the revival of “Once On This Island” and is breaking barriers as he plays the traditionally female role, ‘Asaka, Mother of the Earth.’ The New York Times says Mama Will Provide is “sung to rattle the roof by the ferocious Alex Newell,” and Entertainment Weekly raves, “[it] is a highlight and one of the show’s most memorable and most cheered moments.” While best-known for his powerful performance as ‘Unique Adams’ on Fox’s “Glee,” the stage is where it all began for Newell. Some of his favorite roles include Hairspray (Motormouth Maybelle), Cinderella (Fairy Godmother), and Saturday Night Fever (Candy). Alex is also a recording artist and released his first EP, “Power” in 2016 after signing with Atlantic Records. His music has also been featured on HBO’s Martin Scorsese series, “Vinyl.” Website: TheAlexNewell.com Twitter & Instagram: @TheAlexNewell Facebook: /TheAlexNewell