BEAUTIFUL MUSIC. POWERFUL COMMUNITY.

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the entire GMCLA family, I am delighted to share with you (above) the never before released full concert, Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Song). This glorious celebration, performed at the Alex Theater at the end of June 2016, made history as we welcomed our special guests, Mano a Mano, Cuba’s gay men’s chorus. These performances were dedicated to the victims of the horrific Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, which happened earlier that month.

We are so grateful to Union Bank for its continued support of GMCLA with the sponsorship of this video and James Roman, from the GMCLA family, for his continued artistry in putting it together as he has done for so many years. It’s 80 minutes of great music, dance, love, and Cuban soul. We hope you will love Oye Mi Canto all over again, or for the very first time!

With the release of this concert, I am delighted to announce that three of our most steadfast donors – Dick and Carol Weaver, Mary Ann Blair, and the Vyas family have committed to donate $50,000 to GMCLA as a challenge to raise an additional $50,000 by the 15th of October.

I am coming to you — our subscribers, donors, and friends — to ask for your support today. Simply CLICK HERE to donate through our secure website. We recognize that there is much difficulty in all our lives right now — but together we must remain committed to keeping GMCLA strong — an organization that has served this community for 41 years.

Your donation will be doubled and will help us —

1. Maintain the fiscal integrity of GMCLA. Our just-completed FY 2019-2020 had a positive net result, as did FY 2018-2019, and over the past 18 months we have paid down 75% of our prior accumulated debt; yet there is still much more work to do in this difficult climate.
2. Keep connected with you until the Chorus can perform in person. That’s why we are releasing Oye Mi Canto, and we will be putting out never before released concert videos in the months ahead. If we can raise the funds, we are planning to do a virtual holiday event in December and other virtual events throughout the year. These events utilize the talent of new kinds of creative personnel, requiring additional budget.
3. Return to rehearsing and performing, when it is safe, with the necessary funds to continue GMCLA’s work in song, schools, and social justice. Funds are needed to bring back our staff, engage venues and artists, get back into schools with our Alive Music Project, and support the well-being of our incredible member-singers.

There are many unknowns ahead that will profoundly affect GMCLA’s fiscal health, notably the corporate and foundation funding available to the arts, and the level of attendance once restrictions begin to be lifted. Now, more than ever, we must rely on donations from individuals like you and me, our Board leadership, and the wonderful people in our Chorus who give their time, talent and money.

Won’t you join the Weavers, Mary Ann Blair, the Vyas family, and all our GMCLA members, and give what you can? It’s easy — simply CLICK HERE today so your gift is doubled and we can make the $50,000 challenge by the 15th of October!

I hope you enjoy Oye Mi Canto by clicking the image above and that you stay safe, stay well, and keep the faith!

Sincerely,

Lou Spisto
Executive Director & Producer