In 2012, the Alamo City Men’s Chorale disbanded after nearly 30 years of showcasing talented gay singers, and fortuitously, the late Ron Casola arrived in San Antonio for health reasons. He saw a need in the community for “a choir that was welcoming to everyone,” says Paul Hughes.
And so the LGBTQ-and-allies singing group, The Live Oak Singers, was born this way.
Hughes is the Artistic Director of the group. He says he was personally called by Casola to direct the musicians.
“Ron started telling me, ‘Girl, you need to go do that.’ I said, ‘I’m so busy, I can’t do it!’ [But] I did, and I’m so happy because this is such a great organization,” says Hughes.
“A lot of the people that have come through the organization’s doors, even if it was just for a brief season, have found a safe place,” explains Joseph Holland, the group’s president, “…within the LGBT community and even our allies, that we can make music and enjoy performing and being a part of the community and feeling like we’re seen and that we’re heard.”
Holland says he hopes that in the future, the choir won’t be seen as just an LGBT group, “But in the meantime, we’re going to be making some noise and making sure that people hear us and see us.”
The Live Oak Singers will be celebrating their 10th anniversary with a concert, "Songs For Ron," on Saturday, May 18 at 4 p.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Castle Hills. Tickets are available at this link.
Listen to the Live Oak Singers in our KPAC studio performing live on-air using the audio player at the top of this page.
Selections performed:
- Born This Way
- Shallow
- One (from ‘A Chorus Line’)
- Why We Sing
