Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles will culminate its 10th anniversary season with a special concert, 'For Friends & Family ... Through the Years,' on Sat., March 29, at 7 p.m. at Northside College Prep, 5501 N. Kedzie. The evening features the Lakeside Pride Symphonic Band, with a special appearance by the Lakeside Pride Wind Ensemble. With this concert, Lakeside Pride ( LP ) will celebrate 10 years of growth and music-making, and will initiate its second decade of serving the Chicago LGBT community.______________
Pictured: Lakeside Pride Symphonic Band in a 2006 concert.
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Lakeside Pride 'was started by Jon Dallas in 1997. There were five people at its first meeting—a very modest beginning,' recalled Rhonda Tullis, who has been with the group since its founding. 'Our first performance was that December. We played a selection of holiday music outside the Ann Sather restaurant on West Belmont Avenue. By early 1999 there were 15 musicians involved.' Today, the organization has grown to a total active roster of more than 100 musicians in a variety of musical groups. The Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles is the umbrella organization of these groups, including not only the symphonic band and the wind ensemble, but also the marching band Lakeside Pride Freedom Band, Lakeside Pride Orchestra, the jazz ensemble Shout!, a clarinet choir, a saxophone ensemble, a women's ensemble and the holiday-season Lakeside Pride Toyland Band.
Compared to other LGBT bands, Chicago's has the benefit of the community's diversity, said Tullis: 'All of the bands around the country are in major metropolitan areas, but some have difficulty getting people of color and women to join. Here, everyone can meet and socialize with people outside their usual social circles. We are a member-centered organization, and have more younger people and a more lively repertoire; our structure is designed to be flexible and do what the members want to do. This flexibility and openness is what has made us grow.'
Over the years, Lakeside Pride has marched with gay veterans in Chicago's Memorial Day Parade, and has been in Evanston's Fourth of July Parade. Other Midwest appearances have included Madison, Wis.; Lansing, Mich.; and Cincinnati, Ohio, where the enthusiasm of Lakeside Pride encouraged the LGBT community there to start its own Queen City Rainbow Band. Lakeside Pride was also key in helping Indianapolis form its band.
'People find Lakeside Pride a comfortable place to develop skills and grow, because we're a group that's open and encouraging' said Tullis. 'Looking back, it's had a real impact on people's lives.'
Tom Kowalczyk is an example of that. He was an award-winning band director at a school in Michigan who was fired for being gay. 'He got another job, then his old school called the new school and he was fired again. He came to Chicago thinking he was done with music, that he'd never get to do this again,' Tullis said. Kowalczyk joined Lakeside Pride in 2000 as the concert band director. 'He's developed the symphonic band from a group of 25 to 65 plus, with wonderful quality, due to his planning and preparation. He enrolled in a master's conducting program and now works as a music teacher again. His life is an example of healing, developing and growing through the band.'
Tullis, who plays saxophone and trombone, has served the group in many capacities. She has managed some of the ensembles, and is now board chair. 'Lakeside Pride has definitely changed me,' she said. 'I was voted most shy in my high school, and now I'm up in front of folks making presentations and meeting all kinds of people. So much of what I've accomplished over the last ten years has, in some way, to do with Lakeside Pride.'
Percussionist Roy Freeman moved to Chicago three years ago from Peoria, where he worked 'in an office in a cubicle,' he recalled. 'I was looking for a place where I could be in the gay and lesbian community artistically and also politically.' As a result of his experience in Lakeside Pride, Freeman decided to go back to school and become a music teacher. ' Lakeside Pride has been very supportive through the process, giving me opportunities to guest conduct,' he added. Freeman is now an assistant director of the Lakeside Pride Symphonic Band.
Because of her involvement with Lakeside Pride, Christy Zurcher, the band's marching director, had the opportunity to lead the Lesbian and Gay Band Association's entire group of assembled marching bands on Soldier Field at the opening ceremony of the Gay Games in Chicago. Tullis also has praise for orchestra director Kim Diehnhelt. 'Being so community oriented sometimes we forget about the music. She's brought more respect for music as artistic expression, and encourages people when they perform well,' says Tullis. 'She has brought a professionalism to the whole organization.'
More than 300 musicians have played in the group over the years. Some who have moved to other cities have joined LGBT bands there, like trumpet player Kevin Nield. 'There's something about playing music with others that really does something for you. Gay and lesbian people really need an outlet like this.' he said. 'When I began, I had given up on my dreams. Being in Lakeside Pride made me see that it wasn't too late, that I could pursue the things I'd given up on over the years. It combines the best of the art world and the best of the type of teamwork you experience in sports. It helps build up people in every way—because it's just nurturing.' Nield says that the support he got from his band experience inspired him to go back to art college for his masters degree. Now living in Houston, Nield has fulfilled his dream to work as an animator, and has become a member of Houston's LGBT band.
French horn player Kevin Shuck joined Lakeside Pride in 1999, and also made a career change, from research in molecular biology to music. Through the League of American Orchestras Program, he went on to intern at several major orchestras around the country and learn the development and management of orchestras. Shuck is now the director of communications for the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra.
Now that it is solidly established, Lakeside Pride is 'starting to look outward,' said Tullis. 'Public school has cut money for music, and we want to support band and orchestra in Chicago. So we're beginning to look at partnering with either the Chicago public schools or park district to provide music education for children.' Lakeside Pride groups have also begun working with other Chicago groups—for example, participating in monthly concerts every third Monday through June at the Center on Halsted. And they continue to build their core of musicians. 'We always welcome new members,' Tullis said.
The Lakeside Pride Symphonic Band, headlining the upcoming concert, is the musical organization's flagship ensemble, with over 65 musicians. The wind ensemble has 30 members. The March 29 concert's musical selections are wide-ranging and include some longtime favorites. The Symphonic Band will perform Bernstein's West Side Story, the Children's March by Percy Aldridge Grainger, Selections from Chicago by John Kander, Claude T. Smith's Emperata Overture, Ravel's Bolero, Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever and David Holsinger's On A Hymnsong of Philip Bliss, a tribute to band members who have passed away. The Wind Ensemble selections will include Danza Final from Estancia by Alberto Ginastera, Copeland's Buckaroo Holiday and the Fifth Movement of the William Byrd Suite by Gordon Jacob.
Tickets for 'For Friends & Family ... Through the Years' are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. For more information on Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles, see www.lakesidepride.org or call 773-381-6693.
