(Photo by Fabiana Ungaro)
It was 1990 when Robert Knoll, a founding member of the Orlando Gay Chorus, read about a gay chorus forming in the neighborhood, wanted to join and stumbled into a rehearsal inside the Rogers Room at Rollins College while still in the closet.
“Society was a lot different back then, a lot of people wouldn’t even use their real name, they used their pseudonyms,” Knoll says.
Knoll’s empowerment grew as OGC, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this year, found its place in the Central Florida and choir community. Over the decades, OGC has grown to welcome more performers, which now holds over 160 members, making it one of the largest LGBTQ+ choirs in the U.S.
“It changed my world, and it gave me the courage to come out to my family, friends, and taught me how to make other people feel safe,” Knoll says.
OGC performed at the Orlando Museum of Art for one of its first concerts and has since performed in venues like the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts, The Plaza Live, Rollins College and at Pulse memorials throughout Central Florida.
“When Pulse happened, we sang at over 100 memorials in that first year alone when I first joined,” Chair of Development Sean Mundyschein says.
In the years since the Pulse tragedy, OGC has continued to send a message of hope, healing and belonging.
OGC’s Artistic Director Harold Wright commonly says, “As the world teaches one to be an individual, music teaches a world of individuals to be one!”
“I feel it when we’re all together and we sing together, my stress levels relax. That’s what Harold’s quote says to me: ‘You’re not in this alone,’” Member Council President Sandra Lee says.
Some members expressed how OGC has been a part of their personal journey and contributed to them exploring their identity.
“It becomes a second family to a lot of people who sometimes don’t have that same love from the family they were born to,” Mundyschein says.
Members shared how OGC has helped them find a sense of belonging.
“I’ve been a member of the chorus since 2022 and I didn’t come out of the closet until 2021 at the age of 35,” Associate Artistic Director Jenny Cate Hodil says.
Hodil recalls finding OGC while she was a choir teacher at a public school.
“I was kind of keeping it on the down low because I just wanted to come and sing about it,” Hodil says. “OGC has been a place for me to be comfortable being out for the first time in 35 years and just being myself.”
Lee says that OGC helped her build confidence in herself.
“I was living in a small town in Florida and I was watching Oprah,” Lee says. “She kept talking about finding a newfound confidence in your 50’s, and I was really getting close to that, and I was like, where is this confidence, how can I get this?”
Lee saw OGC perform shortly after Pulse on the news and was inspired to join the choir, despite her fear at the time as a member of the lesbian community.
“For me, it’s been a confidence booster. I went from wanting to just hide in a corner to building myself up, talking a little more, doing announcements. I want to be a better me, I want to be the best me, I want to be Oprah,” Lee says.
Members also reflected on how much OGC has changed throughout the years. Member Council Vice President Carol Studer says she first joined the chorus as a tenor.
“There were always women in the chorus, but we did not sing as soprano or alto, so when I first joined, I joined as a tenor,” Studer says.
By 2012, they transitioned to a soprano, alto, tenor, bass chorus.
“When I first joined, there were maybe 11 women in the chorus and now it’s pretty even in what we call upper voices and lower voices because people identify differently, but as of today, we’re at about 84,” Studer says.
Hodil, who is OGC’s first female associate artistic director, emphasized a rise in diversity.
“I’ve been with the group since the Fall of ‘22, and even since then, I’ve seen the upper voices grow and flourish in numbers,” Hodil says.
Other members said they’ve seen a greater diversity in the type of music they perform as well. Member-at-large Josh Soto said he’s enjoyed the evolution.
“We’re finding some very good arrangements to find that good balance and that’s one thing I love about what we bring is we’re going to give you everything at our show,” Soto says.
As the group gears up to perform at their 35th Anniversary concert, Mundyschein reflects on the time that goes into preparing for a performance.
“You spend a lot of time studying your music, then we come together and rehearsal is a time to make sure we’re blending. Then we actually get to preform it; we’ve got to dance, we’ve got to sing and then you have lights and sound, and the stage — it just becomes otherworldly and awesome,” Mundyschein says.
On the road to becoming one of the largest LGBTQ+ choirs in the U.S., OGC has faced many challenges, according to its members. Studer says finding venues to perform at and promote their concerts was difficult in retrospect.
“When the chorus first started, the Sentinel wouldn’t run their ad. There have been a lot of changes but sometimes it’s just the basics of ‘Where can we sing?’” Studer says.
The choir was founded in 1990, at the peak of the AIDS epidemic.
“One of our founding members, Paul Erickson, died of AIDS,” Knoll says. “We have a committee to help our own membership, our family here, that has health-related issues, in honor of him. It started off with AIDS, but it’s gone beyond just AIDS.”
OGC is set to perform its 35th Anniversary: A Choral Kaleidoscope concert twice during the month of May. First, you can see the show at The Ritz Theater in Sanford May 16 and then at Steinmetz Hall inside the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts May 28. Members say they have songs with strong messages planned.
“We’re making sure the T is left in LGBT,” Lee says. Knoll echoes that statement. “It’s not just about the music — I love music — but it’s about social justice and we’re getting the message out through the music,” Knoll says.
According to their website, OGC dedicates itself to amplifying the voices of the LGBTQ+ community in Orlando while maintaining an “atmosphere of integrity, honesty, and mutual respect,” and as member Marcus Ealy says, “bringing joy.”
“I want to bring joy into the world. There’s so much going on in the world. If you can see my smile on stage and that’s gonna help you, why not? Smiles are free,” Ealy says.
OGC was founded on Valentines day in 1990, according to Mundyschein OGC also remains committed to their message of love.
“Our entire chorus was founded from love and continues the mission of sharing love with the world,” Mundyschein says, recalling that the chorus was founded on Valentine’s Day. “I think these members needed love 35 years ago in 1990, and we see now that some things are coming back and that we still need love today.”
The Orlando Gay Chorus’ “35th Anniversary: A Choral Kaleidoscope” will be at The Ritz Theater in Sanford May 16 at 7:30 p.m. and The Dr. Phillips Center’s Steinmetz Hall in Orlando May 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $20 and are available at OrlandoGayChorus.org/Shows.
