Inspired by a 12-city tour of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, an operating committee convened in Pittsburgh, PA, to form a local chorus in June of 1985. Two weeks later, the first rehearsal took place at Zach’s Fourth Avenue Bar under the direction of Stan Bennett. It was merely three months later, in September, when 32 singers took the stage to present a collection of works for the new musical group known then as Pittsburgh Gay Chorus. At the time, promoting an openly queer public event was a brave and even brazen act for the then blue-collar Steel Town. That humble beginning brought with it many years of ups and downs, and the group has grown into the longest standing LGBTQIA+ Choir in the Pittsburgh region and likely all of Appalachia. The Renaissance City Choir (RCC’s) legacy of spreading the joy of music started simple: a small collective of creatives hoping to spread acceptance and build community through the connective power of music.
Fast forward nearly 40 years after that fateful meeting at Zach’s Fourth Avenue Bar to when I had just moved to Pittsburgh. I was looking for a choir to join and I happened upon RCC. After learning of the group, I joined in January 2023 and started attending practices at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. As time went on and I became more involved in the organization, I met so many folks coming from all walks of life with that same intention of joining a choir to make beautiful music and create community together.
Though it would be difficult to encapsulate the RCC in one passage, let alone summarize its multi-generational history, I think it is more important to showcase the people and stories that make us who we are.
First, John Mueller joined RCC in 2000, and at the time, he needed the choir and its community as much as the choir needed members like him. Moving to Indiana, PA, from Manhattan left him with a longing for connection — the journey to find it was an unexpected one. At this point, there were few venues to meet people in the gay community outside of bars or clubs. Knowing that wasn’t the space for him, John went searching for something different. Despite not being a professional singer, John had always loved music and serendipitously found RCC.
When John first joined, he felt overwhelmed. Jumping headfirst into page upon page of music, surrounded by all new people that in many cases had been singing together for years — it was vulnerable, isolating, even. John felt this at first, but he was soon put at ease by the care of people like Bill Cohen, who had been a member for many years. Bill was the type of person who could always step outside of himself and consider those around him. John described Bill as “an immense talent, but also a kind person whose warm smile and genuine interest in how you were doing made you feel like you belonged.”
Years later, I joined the choir in the very same way John had. Even though I never had the chance to meet Bill, the way John described him reminded me of exactly how John himself made me feel upon joining. Whether he knows it or not, John carries on that spirit of kindness and continues to make the choir a space for new members to feel welcomed no matter where they came from, personally or in their musical journey.
John continues to give back to the choir in big and small ways. He is spearheading the effort to organize the RCC trip to the 2024 GALA Choruses Festival in Minneapolis, MN. The GALA Festival is the largest LGBTQIA+ choral event in the world, and brings folks from all over North America and elsewhere to gather and create music. John has volunteered his time to create this opportunity for members of RCC to travel together and represent our choir and region at this international festival. While there, our contingent will be presenting new commissioned music and other pieces that showcase our joy and pride. This will be the first time since 2012 RCC would have been able to attend the GALA Festival, and thanks to John’s focus and dedication, this experience will become a reality.
Yet another stand out in RCC is Lisa Allen, who has been part of the choir since 2008. After a long-time streak of rockin’ the karaoke circuit, Lisa met the director at the time, Andres Cladera, who implored her to come to practice and give it a try. At first, it was intimidating. There were some “ringers” in the choir at the time, performing heavy duty numbers in Latin and whole movements of multiple choral pieces. Lisa had never been in a formal choir before, but she worked tirelessly to learn the skills to perform and carved her own space amongst the group.
For Lisa Allen, being part of RCC wasn’t just learning to sing Handel on Tuesdays, it also became a way to build community. In 2014, a small group within the choir formed to run the Pittsburgh Marathon to raise funds for Dreams of Hope, a nonprofit that uplifts LGBTQIA+ youth arts in the city of Pittsburgh. When there was a call for volunteers, Lisa raised her hand, along with a group of other choir members. One other member in particular, Marlo Perry, stuck out to Lisa. She was a fellow alto, but someone Lisa had never talked to much before. As the group prepared for the run, they also met up to make posters and map out plans. As the marathon preparation came along, Marlo and Lisa started to become something more than just teammates in the race.
At first, it was as simple as sitting next to one another, but it grew into meeting up before practice and seeing each other more and more outside of choir. Soon enough, as Lisa described it, “the walls were broken down and we became romantically involved.” A handful of years after joining, Lisa and Marlo got married and started a life together. A member of the choir officiated and even a small group from RCC performed at the wedding ceremony. To this day, Marlo and Lisa sit side by side together, right in the front of the alto section at Tuesday practices.
For both John and Lisa, the choir has brought so much more than just a place to sing a solo or two. They have found spaces to feel belonging and spread joy. Concert after concert, RCC has reached out to anyone willing to listen to showcase that there is a queer community here in Pittsburgh — one that has continued to thrive through all the waves of changes the region has faced. It is through this work that John, Lisa and so many before them have created a group of folks that care for one another and spread joy to others in the LGBTQIA+ community, or even the folks that don’t identify in the community at all.
Though much of the choir has changed since the ragtag group of 32 singers who met at Zach’s Fourth Avenue Bar, the mission has always stayed true, and hopefully the music of the Renaissance City Choir will continue to be heard by those willing to listen for another 40 years to come.
Photos courtesy of Afton Aulick
