The Houston Pride Band’s 2007-2008 season is called “Celebrate” in honor of our 30th anniversary. We decided that, in addition to celebrating this milestone, we would rededicate ourselves to the community. Thanks to sponsors like Concierge Travel, Resurrection MCC, the City of Houston, and our wonderful supporters, we were able to cover the costs of the concerts. That allowed us to designate beneficiaries to our three paid concerts. These community organizations receive the money collected from ticket sales.
The Fall concert was called “Celebrate Diversity” and featured music from diverse styles and times. We also invited groups from throughout the community to set up booths at the reception afterwards. The concert raised $1,200 for AssistHers a local service group that helps lesbians going through life-threatening illnesses.
In December, we joined with Resurrection MCC to present “Celebrate the Season,” a free Christmas concert. We performed with the RMCC choir, gospel choir, and hand bell choir.
Our Winter Concert, “Celebrate Relationships,” benefitted the local PFLAG chapter. We played “West Side Story,” “Rollo Takes a Walk,” “Ukranian Folk Songs,” “My Funny Valentine,” among other works. At the beginning of the year, we had an infusion of new members, and performed with around 30 musicians for the first time in many years.
Our next performance was at the 2008 Houston AIDS Walk, benefitting the Houston AIDS Foundation. We have played along the walk route for many years, but last year we decided to also register as a team. This year we raised over $2,000 for the cause.
Our next event will be our “Celebrate Families” children’s concert. It will be a free concert in the park in conjunction with the Houston Gay and Lesbian Parent’s organization.
The final event of the season will be our 30th Anniversary Celebration and participation in the Houston Pride Parade the next day. The festivities include a special concert on Friday, 27 June, the Houston Pride Parade on Saturday, and pool party on Sunday. The concert will feature classic Houston Pride Band works as well as some great new music. We are excited that Conductor Emeritus Andy Mills will be conducting a couple of pieces that evening. The beneficiary will be Montrose Counseling Center. We hope that former members as well as our friends from around LGBA-land will join us for this great event. We also appreciate any information about the whereabouts of former members and any historical information that anyone has out there.
More information will soon be online at http://www.houstonprideband.org/.
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by Kevin Taylor
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