2008 SF Pride Concert: Press Releases and Media Information

BETTY’S LIST FOUNDER HOSTS BIRTHDAY RECEPTION
AT 2008 PRIDE CONCERT: “OUR MESSAGE IS MUSIC”

San Francisco – June 8, 2008. Dr. Betty L. Sullivan, LGBTQ media maven and founder of the popular website “Betty’s List” (www.bettyslist.com), toasts 30 years of queer visibility through music when she hosts the birthday-party-style reception at the Friday performance of the 2008 Pride Concert. Presented by the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, this year’s Annual Pride Concert celebrates the 30^th anniversary of the Band, the first openly LGBTQ music group in the world, and showcases some of the flashiest music written for wind ensemble and for choruses. The concert takes place 8 pm, Thursday, June 26 and Friday, June 27 – at First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1187 Franklin Street (@ Geary), San Francisco. Tickets are $15-$35. Info: www.sfprideconcert.org, (415) 865-ARTS (2787).

“It’s an honor to have Dr. Sullivan toast the start of our third decade,“ says Band Artistic Director/Conductor Dr. Roberto-Juan Gonzalez. “Betty Sullivan is an icon in the San Francisco LGBTQ community and having her host the reception is just one more reason to celebrate.”

Sullivan, whose “Betty’s List” site has become a staple of news and information for and about San Francisco’s Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Trangender community, recently was invited to dialogue with Craig's List founder Craig Newmark at The Commonwealth Club about the origins and development of online communities. An advocate for the use of media as a tool for information, teaching and learning, and "edu-info-tainment," Sullivan has produced online and print programs for The New York Times, United States Olympic Committee, White House Office of the Special Advisor on the Year 2000 Conversion, American Bar Association, League of American Theaters and Producers, Walt Disney on Ice, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey and more than 400 news outlets, PBS, ABC's national literacy initiative, Children's Television Network, CNN Newsroom, Discovery Communications and others.

The co-founder of Use The News Foundation, Dr. Sullivan is a founding member of the World Association of Newspapers' Youth & Education Committee and has conducted media education seminars and workshops at Harvard, Columbia, universities throughout South Africa and other international settings. Prior to establishing her own company, she was education director of the Newspaper Association of American Foundation in Washington, DC and has held staff positions at USA TODAY, New York Newsday and The Commercial Appeal. Dr. Sullivan holds a doctorate in linguistics from Columbia University in New York and received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2001 from Teacher's College. She has been honored for work in San Francisco's gay & lesbian community and has served on the boards of numerous national and regional LGBT non-profit groups. A longtime supporter of San Francisco’s LGBTQ music institutions, she serves on the SFGMC board of directors and has served on various honorary boards for the Band for a decade.

“Each of the performing arts organizations founded by Jon Sims, I feel, has provided both clarion call and backdrop for our lives over the past thirty years,” says Sullivan. “There is nothing more fundamental to the fabric of a community's history and culture than its music, and my hope is that we all will honor the musicians, singers and staff who comprise these groups by being a donor and a member of the audience when they are on stage.”

Founded in 1978, the year the rainbow flag was created and Harvey Milk rode in the Freedom Day Parade as supervisor, the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Marching Band & Twirling Corps claimed an American symbol for the newly emerging Gay community as it struggled for its civil rights. The Band quickly became a symbol of pride for the Gay community and played music to build understanding between its community and the larger world. Thirty years after its first march up Market Street, the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band (as it is known today) continues to make music as a symbol of LGBTQ pride. Named the official band of the City of San Francisco in 2003 and the Most Absolutely Fabulous contingent of the 2006 San Francisco Pride Parade, the Band continues to march in city parades, pride festivals and July 4th celebrations. Its Dance-Along Nutcracker® has been featured in national media such as the Wall Street Journal, The Ladies’ Home Journal, Good Morning, America , the Today Show and on HG-TV. Conducted today by Dr. Roberto-Juan González, the Band continues to be one of the busiest and most vibrant community bands in the country. (www.sflgfb.org)

Founded by Jon Sims in 1978, San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus first performed on the steps of City Hall the day Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in November. From its beginnings that day as the world’s first openly gay men’s chorus to its triumphant national tour in 1981 to appearing around the world at venues like the Kennedy Center, Sidney Opera House and Carnegie Hall, SFGMC, conducted by Artistic Director Dr. Kathleen McGuire, has been a source of gay pride and musical accomplishment. SFGMC presents its 30th anniversary season through December 2008. (www.sfgmc.org)

The world's first mixed lesbian and gay chorus, the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco (LGCSF) was founded in 1980 by Bay Area musicians and community members under the direction of conductor, singer and pianist Robin Kay. LGCSF was the first gay and lesbian group to win the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Arts Excellence Award (1994). Directed by Artistic Director and Conductor Stephanie Lynne Smith, LGCSF has continued to provide a forum for San Francisco 's gay and lesbian music lovers to develop their talents and share their gifts with diverse communities in San Francisco and at events ranging as far abroad as Chicago and Sydney , Australia . (www.lgcsf.org)

The Annual Pride Concert is co-presented by the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco , San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band. First produced in 1979 at Grace Cathedral, this concert is one of the longest-running annual performances in San Francisco and represents one of the first forms of open artistic expression to come from Harvey Milk’s Castro and the LGBTQ community here. For 30 years, the Pride Concert provides a showcase for the community music and dance groups that kicked off the gay music movement that was begun in this city and quickly spread to cities across the country and around the globe. These programs have provided a safe space for LGBTQ artists to come together to develop their talents and to demonstrate how the LGBTQ community enriches the society at large despite the discrimination it faces.

Our Message Is Music is co-produced by the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco , the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, and is an official 2008 San Francisco Pride Event. For information on this concert, check out the official event website at www.sfprideconcert.org or call 415/865-ARTS (2787).

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