Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles Alive Music Project performers are celebrating their 10-year anniversary by kicking off their 2016 season at Saugus High School.

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA) kicks off its season with the Alive Music Project on Nov. 4.

The country’s most expansive school outreach and music education program for LGBTQ youth will start at Saugus High School.
“GMCLA’s Alive Music Project engages youth through exciting live performances, helping students and teacher engage with a subject that isn’t always discussed in class, helping to create more safe spaces on school campuses throughout Southern California,” says Gavin Thrasher, GMCLA’s Assistant Conductor and Alive Music Project Coordinator. “GMCLA works with many students who have never met an open and out member of the LGBT community, and this gives them the opportunity to engage with the truth of LGBT people as part of society, out or not, just like everyone else.”

The program is concentrated on schools throughout Southern California by connecting and engaging students facilitating significant dialogue through music as well as directly with chorus members to create a safe space on campus, additionally through master classes and workshops with GMCLA’s Artistic Director Dr. Joe Nadeau and a combined performance.

Since launching in 2007, GMCLA has reached more than 45,000 students directly through its Alive Music Project, and looks forward to considerably increasing that number after the 2016 season opener at Saugus High School, officials said.

Nearly two-thirds of LGBTQ students have been verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation; 49 percent have experienced cyberbullying; and 55.5 percent feel unsafe at school, ccording to the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

GMCLA’s visit and performance at Saugus High Schools follows an important month for awareness of issues raised around the safety of LGBT youth, with National Coming Out Day being marked on October 11, as well as Spirit Day on October 20.

Following the start of the season at Saugus High School, GMCLA’s Alive Music Project also has plans to reach students this fall with their message of equality and of bolstering self-esteem in middle schools and high schools throughout East and South L.A., as well as Riverside, Ventura, Santa Clarita, and Long Beach.

They will also be introducing their program for the first time in the city’s youth correctional system.

GMCLA’s outreach program and performance at Saugus High School is sponsored by Boston Scientific.

For more information on the Alive Music Project and GMCLA, visit www.gmcla.org.

About Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA):

GMCLA has garnered international acclaim for artistic excellence while remaining deeply rooted in service to the Los Angeles community and beyond by promoting civil rights, tolerance and acceptance through music. Founded in 1979 during the emergence of the gay civil rights movement, critics have proclaimed the chorus “inspired,” “expressive, innovative, and utterly moving,” and hailed it for presenting “meaningful entertainment.”

This information has been provided to KHTS AM-1220 through a Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles press release.