Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus celebrates 20th Anniversary

The boys from the Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus are back with a new show highlighting their remarkable history. A jukebox show celebrating the joy and community the group has generated over the last twenty years, Retrospective: 20 years of Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus comes to Lemptown’st St George’s Church on Fri 2 – Sat 3 May 2025.

Starting as a small group of gay friends meeting together to socialise and sing, the chorus has now grown to the third largest queer choir in all of Europe and is internationally recognised for its stand out performances and artistic ability.

“The main goal of the Chorus was, and still is, to create a space where people can celebrate music, find friendship and contribute to the local community,” said BrightonGMC’s in-house historian, Thomas Aird. “This year’s Fringe show will feature all of those elements and we’re busy pulling together a memorable selection of stories and songs.”

Audiences can expect classic crowd pleasers from BrightonGMC, such as I Am What I Am, as well as intricate and exciting contemporary arrangements like Wrecking Ball, that highlight the powerful talent and bravado of its musical team. As always, audiences can rely on BrightonGMC to deliver pure entertainment with an emphasis on the nostalgic.

The Chorus will be working to celebrate its legacy with a slew of initiatives and programmes including Pride events across the region. Long-standing members will be recording audio histories of their time in the chorus, including their personal highlights, and this will be released as part of a podcast series later this year. Alongside this, BrightonGMC will be building on existing partnerships with local charities to encourage the singers of tomorrow to band together and vocalise.

BrightonGMC Chair Dan Langasco said: “We are first and foremost a community choir. Our members come from all walks of life and we’re proud to offer a friendly, non-judgemental place for people to be themselves. Our audiences often don’t realise we’re a charity ourselves and one of our charitable aims is to promote equality and diversity. As part of our 20 for 20 initiative we’re going to go all out to do exactly that by engaging the community in new and exciting ways. Watch this space…!”

Tickets are available directly from the chorus at: www.brightongmc.org with group discounts. BrightonGMC will also be raising funds for Lunch Positive, a local charity that creates safe spaces and works to end HIV stigma.

The Chorus has received numerous accolades for its wide-ranging repertoire and commitment to social equality. They perform regular sell-out shows in the Brighton area. Their founding principles are the “Three S’s” – Singing, Socialising and Support. Their charitable objectives include promoting public education through the study, practice and public, advance the education of gay and gay-friendly men in Brighton and Hove in the subject of choral music, its study, practice and promoting the value of equality and diversity.

Retrospective: 20 years of Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus comes to St George’s Church in Kemptown on Fri 2 – Sat 3 May 2025.

Find out more at www.brightongmc.org

All images by Nick Ford Photography