Windy City Gay Chorus (WCGC), founded in October of 1979, is the oldest Gay chorus in Illinois and the Midwest, and one of the first gay choruses organized in the country. WCGC is a founding member of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA). Only the San Francisco and New York City Gay Men's Choruses are older, each by a few months. WCGC's first performance was in December of 1979, at the Don We Now . . . concert at Stages Music Hall. Windy City Gay Chorus was originally affiliated with Toddlin' Town Performing Arts, Inc. (TTPA). TTPA was the umbrella organization for WCGC, along with the Artemis Singers women's chorus (one of the first lesbian/feminist choruses in the nation) and the Gay and Lesbian Pride Band. In 1983, the Chorus broke away from TTPA and incorporated as Windy City Performing Arts, Inc. (WCPA), an independent, not-for-profit organization.

In 1982, WCGC traveled to New York City for a joint appearance with the New York City Gay Men's Chorus in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The standing room only crowd gave WCGC a standing ovation at the close of its portion of the program. The New York Daily News hailed the concert as "...a thorough pleasure in tone and balance...the results were positively heroic."

Windy City Gay Chorus has always stressed musical excellence in its performances. In 1984, WCGC won first place in the Johnny Mann Great American Choral Festival, the only gay group ever to do so. This competition involved hundreds of choruses and choirs from around the country. Since then, WCGC has given invitational performances at both state and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). In 1985, Windy City Gay Chorus became the first openly gay group to perform at Chicago's historic Orchestra Hall. The near-sell-out crowd was warmly enthusiastic, and this success prompted WCGC to return to the hall at least once annually for several years. WCGC has been lauded by the Illinois House of Representatives, the mayors of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver, Washington, DC., San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago mayors Richard M. Daley and the late Harold Washington. In his statement, Mayor Washington proclaimed that Windy City Gay Chorus was "...a unique asset to the cultural life of the city, and a source of pride to its citizens, who are devoted to excellence in the performing arts."

Windy City Gay Chorus has performed in cities throughout the country, including Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Indianapolis, Peoria, Champaign-Urbana, New York City, Denver, Columbus, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC. Some of these concerts were performed with other GALA choruses. WCGC has also traveled to perform in GALA choral festivals since GALA II in Minneapolis in 1986. In 1989, WCGC performed with 40 other GALA choruses in Seattle; in 1992, they traveled to Denver where they sang with 2,000 delegates. In the summer of 1996, they traveled to Tampa, Florida, joining over 5,000 gay and lesbian singers representing 99 choruses in the largest GALA festival ever (as well as the largest convention Tampa has ever hosted.) Most recently, our members performed in July 2000 in San Jose, California for GALA VI. This performance was recorded live, and it, as well as the performances of all of our other ensembles, can be found on our latest CD! In July 2004, the chorus will travel to Montreal, Canada to participate in GALA VII, the first international GALA choral festival to be held outside of the United States.

In addition, WCGC hosts GALA and non-GALA choruses in joint concerts in Chicago, bringing a diversity of talents to our home audiences. Windy City Gay Chorus receives substantial recognition from the national choral community and government sources, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.

Most recently, WCGC participated in the City of Chicago’s “Play On Chicago!” at Millennium Park, a choral event which showcased some of the city’s most diverse choral groups. In addition, in keeping with its tradition of firsts, WCGC along with its sister chorus Unison: Windy City Lesbian & Gay Singers–made history by becoming the first gay and lesbian organization to perform at an Illinois Professional Sporting Event by singing the national anthem at the Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland Indians ballgame at U.S. Cellular Field on Saturday, September 6th.

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of Windy City Gay Chorus, a year that will underscore a tradition of musical excellence and pride. As our Vision Statement proclaims: “Windy City Gay Chorus endeavors to be an exceptional men’s chorus with a reputation for performing outstanding music of a variety of styles. Our music shall entertain, enlighten, uplift, enrich and educate a diverse audience as it reflects the human spirit and experience, particularly the gay experience. We seek to support, empower, represent and challenge the gay and lesbian community as a whole through our excellence in music, our commitment to equality and justice for all people and through the portrayal of our lives.”