Save the Date for our 2025 Gala:
Saturday, June 21, 2025

Thank You for joining us for our biggest night of the year!

Thank you to everyone who came to our Gala and supported us in the Silent Auction online!

Gala 2024: Dinner & Dance Party

Sunday, June 30th, 2024

Pasadena Civic Ballroom

Includes the 3:00PM

matinee performance of

Silent Auction • Reception • Open Bar • Dinner • Dancing • Special Guests

3:00PM | SOLID GOLD Concert

5:30PM | Gala Reception & Silent Auction

6:30PM | Dinner, Awards, & Dancing

Benefitting GMCLA’s Alive Music Project in the schools and our free concert performances in the community.

ABOUT GMCLA's ANNUAL GALA

Since 2012, GMCLA’s Annual Gala has raised over $3.2 million for youth education, including our Alive Music Project and countless community concerts that we provide for free.

The Annual Gala also celebrates those who have given selflessly to the Chorus and to the LGBTQ community by lifting their voices to advance human rights by honoring them with GMCLA’s Voice Awards.

The 2024 Gala evening begins with GMCLA’s performance of SOLID GOLD: Aretha, Dionne, & Whitney – a musical tribute to three indelible and influential voices. Immediately following the concert, gala guests will be treated to a lively reception, silent auction, and elegant dinner in the historic Pasadena Civic Auditorium’s ballroom. The gala dinner will feature special entertainment, a DJ, dancing, and our Voice Award honorees.

OUR 2024 GMCLA CIVIC VOICE AWARD HONOREES

U.S. SENATOR ALEX PADILLA AND ANGELA PADILLA

Senator Alex Padilla, a progressive problem-solver, is the first Latino elected to represent California in the U.S. Senate. The son of immigrants, Padilla grew up in the San Fernando Valley and studied Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was drawn to politics in response to California’s anti-immigrant Proposition 187. Padilla was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1999 and the State Senate in 2006. As California’s Secretary of State, he oversaw a historic expansion of voting rights and voter participation. As United States Senator, Padilla has taken action to cut costs for families, combat the climate crisis, and help thousands of Californians secure millions of dollars owed to them by federal agencies. Padilla currenlty serves as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety. He is a member of the Senate Committees on Budget; Environment and Public Works; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Judiciary; and Rules. Padilla lives in the San Fernando Valley with his wife, Angela, and their three sons, Roman, Alex and Diego.

Angela Padilla is a passionate mental health advocate. Angela's commitment is rooted in her personal experience with mental health. For nearly forty years, Angela's mother has lived with bipolar and schizoaffective disorders. As a result, Angela became an avid consumer of mental health information at a young age, which motivated her to earn a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Master's in Public Administration (MPA) with a focus on Health Administration. She learned that even in the age of the internet, accurate and reliable mental health information could be difficult for consumers to find. As part of her advocacy, Angela publicly shares her unique perspectives and experiences with a diverse range of audiences by speaking at schools, to community organizations, and at special events. Before establishing FundaMental Change, Angela worked as an Assistant Vice President/LR Manager for Bank of America. Angela was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. She graduated from Canoga Park High School, earned an Associate's degree from Los Angeles Pierce College and both a Bachelor's and Master's degree from California State University Northridge. Angela lives in the San Fernando Valley with her husband and their three children.

GMCLA is excited to honor Senator Alex Padilla with our Civic Voice Award in recognition of his decades of community building advocacy and civil service as previous L.A. City Councilmember, CA State Senator, CA Secretary of State and current U.S. Senator.

GMCLA is thrilled to honor Angela Padilla with our Civic Voice Award in recognition of her mental health advocacy in the community through her organization FundaMental Change.

“We are deeply honored that both Senator and Mrs. Padilla are joining us for the Gala to receive GMCLA’s Civic Voice Award. Each of them have dedicated many years of their life’s work to make our region a more vibrant and inclusive place, and the lives of all who live here healthier and safer.”

-GMCLA Executive Director & Producer, Lou Spisto

OUR 2024 GMCLA ARTISTIC VOICE AWARD HONOREE

HBO’s We’re Here is a critically acclaimed unscripted series. Its third season won two Emmy Awards, a third GLAAD Award for “Outstanding Reality Programming,” a Peabody Award, and received Television Academy Honors. Season four follows renowned drag queens, Sasha Velour, Priyanka, Jaida Essence Hall, and Latrice Royale, as they continue the show’s mission of spreading love and connection through the art of drag across small-town America. This season, the queens work with participants in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Tulsa, Oklahoma, as well as in surrounding towns, and take an in-depth, immersive look at recent anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, and the effect it has had on the community.

"Honoring HBO’s We’re Here with our Artistic Voice Award, at a time when the drag community has come under fire in so many places, is something we’re especially proud to do. Having the Queens with us for the concert and the after-concert dinner-dance party is going to bring the proceedings to a whole new level of fun and fabulousness!"

-GMCLA’ s Executive Director and Producer, Lou Spisto

FEATURING SPECIAL GUESTS FROMWE'RE HERE

LATRICE ROYALE

Latrice Royale captured the hearts of the world and earned the title of Miss Congeniality on Season 4 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. She then went on to appear in other incarnations of the franchise, including multiple guest appearances on the show, RuPaul’s Drag U and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Seasons 1 & 4, and represented RuPaul’s Drag Race on Celebrity Family Feud. Currently, she is one of four hosts in the upcoming season of HBO’s Emmy-winning unscripted series We’re Here, debuting April 26 on HBO and Max.

PRIYANKA

What’s her name? Priyanka is a multi-hyphenated performer, musical artist, and international entertainer taking the world by storm. But that’s no surprise. From hosting as Mark “Suki” Suknanan on the legendary children’s network, YTV, to her iconic 2020 crowning as the first-ever winner of Canada’s Drag Race, Priyanka’s star power and charisma have always been obvious. Now, with her debut EP Taste Test hitting 15+ million streams, sold-out performances around the globe and becoming a host of Emmy Award winning HBO show We’re Here, the big question isn’t “what’s next,” it’s what isn’t?

ACCEPTING THE ARTISTIC VOICE AWARD

STEPHEN WARREN & JOHNNIE INGRAM

CREATORS & EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS OF WE'RE HERE

WE INVITE YOU TO DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY WITH SPECIAL GALA PERFORMANCES FROM

HOLLY
JACKSON

SAMANTHA
LAWRENCE-MATA

AMBER
WRIGHT

DJ SHERPA
SLIM

YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS!

Your gala contribution helps GMCLA provide hope and inspiration through the power of our music as we extend our reach with our community-based projects:

Well-researched, curriculum-based music education and outreach program model
Addresses issues of prejudice, bullying, discrimination, and homophobia
Proven to increase attitudes of acceptance
Contributes to youth empowerment and self-esteem building
Has reached over 85,000 youth in Los Angeles.

Performing at more than 30 free public events each year
Representing our communities at rallies, festivals, fundraisers, and community programs across LA
Recent performances at an mpox vaccination event in partnership with Unity Church in South Central Los Angeles, a choir festival hosted by Heart of Los Angeles supporting AAPI communities, and last year's Women's Action Rally.