About Us
The largest community chorus in North America
Formed in 1979, our organization has grown to house not only the two choruses, but a thriving publishing arm and concert performance series that presents groups and individuals from around the world. We are Washington state's largest and most influential choral organization. Flying House Productions ranks third among the state's music organizations in terms of budget, audience exposure, and ensemble size.
Seattle Men's Chorus is the largest community chorus in America. It is also the largest gay men's chorus in the world! Seattle Women's Chorus made its world premier on stage April 2002 and has quickly grown to over 200 singers. Each chorus has a base of over 80 volunteers and associate members that support both choruses.
More than 40,000 people attend the subscription series annually. Thousands more see each chorus in other local performances every year. Since 1994, over 2.5 million viewers have seen Seattle Men's Chorus in their award-winning television program "Swellegant Elegance" which continues to air on PBS stations across the nation.
Flying House Productions publishes its own programs and lifestyle magazine. Flying House also presents gay and lesbian positive performers like Margaret Cho, Cris Williamson, Lea DeLaria, Bruce Vilanch, Kate Clinton, Holly Near, Scott Thompson, Suzanne Westenhoefer, and David Sedaris.
Full-time professional staff includes the executive director, director of marketing and public relations, director of development, director of finance, special events manager, assistant artistic director, advertising sales representative, box office manager, multimedia designer, accounting assistant, database administrator, company manager and administrative assistant. Dennis Coleman has served as artistic director since 1980.
Performances
Our choral performances are full-scale
productions that combine the region's leading professional talents with
nationally-known guest artists to create events that expand the possibilities
of choral performances and have enormous popular appeal.
We present a five-concert series each season mostly using
Benaroya Hall, McCaw Hall and Meany Theater in Seattle. The chorus
is the largest renter of Benaroya after the Seattle Symphony. Frequently,
additional concerts that feature the talent of artists like Rosemary
Clooney, Kristen Chenoweth, Melissa Manchester and Megan Mullally ("Karen" on
TV's Will & Grace).
Collaboration with major guest artists from a variety of performance
mediums have included jazz great Diane Schuur, Metropolitan Opera star Tatiana
Troyanos, dancer/choreographer Mark Morris, recording artist Marni Nixon,
Michael Feinstein, nationally acclaimed a cappella group Chanticleer, Grammy
Award winners Bobby McFerrin and Natalie Cole, Tony Award-winning playwright
and actor Harvey Fierstein, and 1993 Inaugural Poet Dr. Maya Angelou.
An active commissioning program has included premieres from some of the leading
composers in the world, including Gian Carlo Menotti, John Corigliano, Ned
Rorem, Alice Parker, William Hawley, David Conte, Samuel Adler, and David
Diamond. For the 1993-94 season, Seattle Men's Chorus commissioned a one-act
opera,
"Night Passage", by the Houston Grand Opera team Robert Moran and
James Skofield; it was the first opera ever written for chorus without solos.
Seattle Men's Chorus performed
"Night Passage" for the National Chorus America Conference where local
music critics and the leaders of the nation's most prestigious professional,
symphonic, and community choruses proclaimed the opera and "Seattle Men's
Chorus' outstanding performance" a
critical success. In 1997, John Corigliano won a Grammy for Best
Classical Album of the Year for First Symphony and companion choral piece "Of
Rage & Remembrance" which
was commissioned by Seattle Men's Chorus, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus
and the New York City Gay Men's Chorus. It was first performed by Seattle
Men's Chorus in 1991.
Regional & National Impact
Flying House Productions cannot be considered as just a
local arts organization. It plays an important national role as an organization
that provides both musical leadership and administrative expertise that influences
dozens of other arts organizations throughout the country and around the
world.
Together with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Men's Chorus co-hosted the national
Chorus America Conference in 1995 in Seattle. Seattle Men's Chorus hosted
a regional convention of Chorus America, the leading national service organization
for choruses, in 1990. Artistic director Dennis Coleman has served on
the National Board of Chorus America for 7 years. Our staff has conducted
management workshops for community choruses from across the United States
and Canada covering such topics as administration, fundraising, marketing & public
relations, ticket management, non-profit tax law and volunteer management.
In 1993, Seattle Men's Chorus and local PBS affiliate KCTS joined together
for a second time to produce "Swellegant Elegance," a celebration
of popular American composer Cole Porter. This Emmy award winning program
was seen in 78 major markets across the country and viewed by an estimated
2.5 million people. Seattle Men's Chorus' 1990
"Radio Craze" telecast on KCTS generated the most pledges and had
the second highest ratings of any locally produced show in their history.
One out of six households in Western Washington and British Columbia was
tuned in to the broadcast. Both "Radio Craze" and "Swellegant Elegance" continue
to be broadcast by PBS affiliates all over the United States.
National tours have included performances in some of the nation's most prestigious
halls; New York's Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall at
Lincoln Center, Symphony Hall in Boston, Meyerson Symphony Hall in Dallas,
Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, and Boettcher Hall in Denver. Statewide
tours are a standard feature of the Seattle Men's Chorus performance season and have included
performances in cities such as Bellingham, Bremerton, Coupeville, Everett,
Olympia, Spokane, Tacoma and Walla Walla. In August, 1998, the chorus traveled
to Europe, where they performed in Barcelona, at the Gay Games' closing ceremony
and two other concerts in Amsterdam, and in London.
Recordings
Seattle Men's Chorus' first recording, "Over the Rainbow!," was released in June, 1990. "Snowbound!," a collection of holiday favorites, was released in October 1991. Other recordings include "Swellegant Elegance" (1993) "Holiday Traditions" (1994), and "Captured Live!" (1995). In June, 1996, Seattle Men's Chorus released a new recording -"The Pink Album" - with special guest artists Diane Schuur, Harvey Fierstein, Ann Hampton Callaway, and Holly Near. "We Are Family," a romp through the 70's was released in 1998, as was "Soul Full" (double CD) which includes the work of The Total Experience Gospel Choir, the Northwest Girlchoir, and Urban Rhythms in a salute to gospel and jazz traditions in America. "Bustin' Out All Over" is a salute to Rodgers & Hammerstein (1998). "Over The Rainbow! 2000" is a rerelease of our original CD with "Old Friend" added to it. Seattle Men's Chorus produced three new CD's during 2001. "Home" features four of the most requested new songs including "Michael's Letter to Mama." "Fruit of the Month Club " features Seattle Men's Chorus ensembles, Captain Smartypants and Zipper. "Joy" is our latest Holiday album featuring "Over the Skies of Yisrael," a piece commissioned for Seattle Men's Chorus and performed in our 1999 and 2001 concerts. Orders for Seattle Men's Chorus recordings have been received from almost every state in the country and from around the world.
