The San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band

Named the "official band of the City of San Francisco" in honor of its 25th anniversary in 2003, the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band is the first openly gay music organization ever, inspiring the formation of lesbian and gay bands, choruses and performing troupes around the world. Founded in 1978 by Jon Sims at the height of Anita Bryant’s anti-gay crusade, the Band debuted marching ahead of Supervisor Harvey Milk’s convertible in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. The Band has been making music to build understanding between gay and non-gay communities for more than a quarter century.

The Band serves the Bay Area from Santa Clara to Contra Costa and Marin counties with 15-20 annual performances in support of civic and community services, low-income seniors, schools, safe places for LGBT youth, health services, and human rights organizations. Thanks largely to the support of individual donors, SFLGFB has presented community concerts featuring major wind band repertoire free of charge since 1993. Past program themes include women composers, social justice, hidden messages in music, catastrophes, and the beauty of the natural world. Its Dance-Along Nutcracker®, a Bay Area holiday tradition, takes place every December at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum.

Named the Most Absolutely Fabulous Contingent of the 2006 San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade, the Band performs for hundreds of thousands at parades throughout the year, including San Francisco’s Chinese New Year’s Parade (2nd place, Best Senior Band), the Corte Madera 4th of July Parade and at pride parades throughout the region, including Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Marin, Reno, Los Angeles and Fresno. Some of the Band’s credits include performances at the Hayward Gay Prom, the Union Square Grand Reopening, the 9/11 memorial ceremony, the Jewish Community Center, Clarendon Elementary School’s Gay Awareness Day, the 5th anniversary of the James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Cultural Center and the Lucasfilms company picnic at Skywalker Ranch. Members have performed at both Presidential Inaugurals of Bill Clinton and at Gay Games in Chicago as part of the Lesbian & Gay Bands Association’s (LGBA) massed bands.

The San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, welcomes new members and invitations to perform. SFLGFB is proud of its diverse membership, living out the hope for a world where differences in gender, culture, sexual identity, age, faith, and class fail to divide us. The Band welcomes invitations to perform at community events and inquiries from wind and percussion players looking for musical challenges in a friendly group. It offers volunteer opportunities at events and is expanding its flag corps. For information, phone 415/255-1355. Mailing address: 584 Castro Street, PMB #841, San Francisco, CA 94114-2594.

Dr. Roberto-Juan González, Artistic Director/Conductor

This year marks Dr. Roberto-Juan González’s debut as Artistic Director/Conductor of the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band. Dr. González has served as music director of the North Bay Philharmonic Orchestra at Napa Valley College since 1988. In 1992, he was awarded the McPherson Distinguished Teaching Award, presented by the Napa Valley College Foundation, celebrating the unprecedented growth of music programs at the college under his leadership. He is also currently the Associate Principal Conductor of the San Francisco Concerto Orchestra, known for its concerts featuring Liszt and Beethoven. Dr. González holds a doctorate in instrumental conducting and organ from the School of Music at Ball State University in Muncie, IN, and earned his bachelor’s degree in music at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico at San Germán. He was a private conducting student of famed Hollywood composer David Raskin for 10 years, and has studied with Guillermo Bonet-Muller, Francis Schwartz, Robert Hargreaves, George Markey, Ernesto Pellegrini, Kirby Koriath and Emanuel Rubin. In 1983, Dr. González debuted with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra as conductor and organ soloist and returned to conduct concerts in 1997 and 2000 to critical acclaim. A singer and pianist, Dr. González also performs regularly at the Octavia Lounge.

Carolyn Carvajal, Choreographer

Nine-year Dance-Along Nutcracker veteran Carolyn Carvajal apprenticed with the Joffrey Ballet and began her professional career with the San Francisco Ballet. As a principal dancer with S.F. Dance Spectrum, she performed the works of Carlos Carvajal and associates with the Arthur Fiedler Pops Concerts and in numerous Bay Area dance showcases. For 12 years she toured extensively with Dances Through Time, expanding her knowledge to include social dancing of the past 500 years. Carolyn retired from the San Francisco Opera Ballet in 1998 after 29 years on the Opera House stage. Currently, she maintains a busy teaching and choreographing schedule with San Francisco Girls Chorus, North Coast Dance and Shan Yee Poon Ballet School.

Trauma Flintstone, (née Anderthal), Rat Vinci

A self-proclaimed “Band hag” and recovering trombonist, Trauma Flintstone is a lipstick thespian who has appeared in over 40 productions on both coasts, including New Conservatory Theater’s Pageant, Christmas with the Crawfords, Club Inferno, When Pigs Fly and the opera Queer. He is best known for outrageous characters in productions such as: Gross Indulgence: The Trials of Liberace, The Andrews Sisters' Hollywood Canteen and Acid Housewife. Flintstone also appeared in the popular hits Dirty Little Show Tunes and Jungle Red. For his artist-in-residency with the Jon Sims Center for the Arts, he developed a remarkable evening of pre-Stonewall dramatic theatre, A Return to the Caffe Cino, which was selected to be presented by the San Francisco Queer Arts Festival. Also a composer, Trauma has collaborated on Burning Louise and other musical productions. One of the Band’s favorite guest artists, he has performed with the group many times, including its 25th anniversary concert and numerous productions of the Dance-Along Nutcracker. Currently, he hosts the popular monthly variety show Bijou at Martuni’s.

Corrine Levy, Dancer/Young Clara/Marianne Humainette

Corrine is thrilled to be back for her 5th Dance-Along Nutcracker. When not performing in Murder Mysteries, she is a freelance floral designer. She enjoys yoga and salsa dancing and looks forward to joining the Palm Springs Follies someday in the more near than far future.

Kelly Collins, Dancer/Fritz/Nutcracker Prince

A newcomer to Dance-Along-Nutcracker, but no stranger to the stage, Kelly has been in various college music and stage productions with Spotlight Players and toured for 13 months throughout North America and Europe with Up With People. He taught adult education for 10 years and most recently served developing diversity programs at the leadership level with Macy’s West as well as sitting on the national corporate diversity team. His claim to fame is having performed a Mexican Hat-dance for Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter’s Square. The question is whose hat was bigger?

City Swing, Gala Entertainers

City Swing has performed in San Francisco since 1985, bringing to life the sounds of Big Band jazz. One of the band’s first gigs was the first Dance-Along Nutcracker that year at the Giftcenter Pavilion, and the group returned to perform for Dance-Alongs in 1986-88 and 1998. The band’s repertoire includes the best charts from books of swing era greats like Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton and Glen Miller. Conducted by featured trumpet soloist Bradley Connlain, City Swing’s credits include performances at Herbst Theater, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Beaux Arts Ball, the Galleria, the Fashion Center, Marines Memorial Club, the Miyako, the Meridien, the Presidio Officers’ Club, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and countless ballrooms, street fairs, private parties and events held in and around the Bay Area.

City Swing starts a new chapter in 2007 with jazz singer Joyce Grant. The great-great-niece of famed ragtime composer Scott Joplin, Grant has been singing jazz in Bay Area venues like the Plush Room and the Donatello Hotel for 20 years. A mezzo-soprano with a voice like dark honey, Grant has a performance resume includes a wide range of venues including the Empire Plush Room and the Donatello Hotel (9 years) in San Francisco, the Ledson Hotel in Sonoma, Cetrella in Half Moon Bay, the Liberty Hotel in Pittsburg, Slates in Walnut Creek, Joe’s of Lafayette, the Woodminster Amphitheater, and the Zingari Ristorante (5 years) in San Francisco. In 2006, she and her husband opened a restaurant in San Leandro – Joplin’s – where Grant appears with an instrumental trio on Sundays.