Our Mission

To present high-quality and exciting musical performances, create a safe and supportive social environment, and to be ambassadors for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Halifax and throughout Nova Scotia.

How the Chorus Came to Be

Founded in 2019, the Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus began with a simple but powerful idea: to create a space where lower-voiced 2SLGBTQIA+ singers could make music, build community, and be visible.

From the beginning, HGMC was about more than performance. It was created to present high-quality, exciting music while building a safe and supportive social environment, and serving as ambassadors for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Halifax and across Nova Scotia.

  1. 1

    2019: Gay Men Needed, A Chorus Begins

    After an early call went out for gay men interested in starting a new chorus in Halifax, more than 65 people attended the first interest session at the Halifax Public Library. By January 2019, HGMC was formally founded, and just two months later, the chorus gave its first public performance as guests of the Aeolian Singers.

  2. 2

    2023: Canada Comes to Halifax

    HGMC co-hosted the national Unison Festival alongside The Women Next Door, welcoming more than 600 2SLGBTQIA+ singers from 14 choruses across Canada to Halifax.

  3. 3

    2024: Bigger Stages, Bigger Recognition

    HGMC opened at the Under the Spire Music Festival in Prince Edward Island, earned an East Coast Music Award nomination for Choral Recording of the Year, and was named Best Community Choir in The Coast’s Best of Halifax.

  4. 4

    2026: The New HGMC

    HGMC entered a bold new chapter with a refreshed brand and growing membership. Major milestones included performing Disney Pride in Concert with Symphony Nova Scotia—a three-concert series that sold more than 3,000 tickets—and travelling to Vancouver for Unison to debut its first commissioned piece.

  5. 5

    Today and Tomorrow: Building What Comes Next

    HGMC is an 80-plus member ensemble known for sold-out concerts, national recognition, and a strong commitment to high-quality performance, community, and 2SLGBTQIA+ visibility. As the chorus continues to grow, HGMC is looking ahead to new stages, new audiences, and new ways to share the power of queer choral music across Halifax, Nova Scotia, and beyond.

We Take the Stage Each Season

Four seasons of music, each one building on the last.

Leadership

Our Staff

The artistic team who lead our rehearsals and shape every performance.

Bryan Crocker

Bryan Crocker

Artistic Director

Cynthia Davies

Cynthia Davies

Collaborative Pianist

Rick Gunn

Rick Gunn

Assistant Conductor

Bryan Crocker

Artistic Director

Bryan has been conducting choirs since 2000 when he was appointed Artistic Director of the Dalhousie Health Professions Chorale. This followed a successful pastime gig for many years as a baritone saxophonist in Halifax, playing with several clubs and big bands. Bryan has also had the privilege of performing on stage with The Temptations, Dionne Warwick, Ice Capades, The Moscow Circus, Red Buttons and Rosemary Clooney.

Bryan is also the Co-Artistic Director of Nova Voce, the NS Provincial Men's Choir, and sings baritone with the acclaimed Halifax Camerata Singers. As well, he is a long-standing member of the Sackville Concert Band playing baritone saxophone. Bryan has also served on the board of the Nova Scotia Choral Federation, and has sat on several planning committees, both provincially and nationally.

Bryan recently retired from 40 years full-time employment with NS Health as a Lab/IT Manager. But he has returned for a few hours a week as a casual analyst. In the past few years he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for his contributions to arts and culture in Nova Scotia, and has been selected to conduct a program of all Nova Scotia music at Carnegie Hall in 2027.

Bryan continues to be thrilled by the talent and enthusiasm of HGMC membership and board and looks forward to leading the artistic team for many years to come, presenting quality events to our eager and ever-growing audience.

Cynthia Davies

Collaborative Pianist

Cynthia Kennedy Davies loves to play the piano! Recognized as one of Nova Scotia’s most versatile accompanists, she has performed and recorded as pianist and vocalist with CBC Radio and Television, the Charlottetown Festival and Symphony Nova Scotia. A graduate of Acadia University, she was a music education specialist for 36 years. Although retired from her classroom duties, Cynthia feels fortunate to continue to accompany young choral musicians in the Halifax Regional Arts program. She is especially delighted to be the accompanist for the Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus. Cynthia lives in her native Halifax with her husband, Bruce.

Rick Gunn

Assistant Conductor

Rick Gunn is a church minister at St. Luke’s United Church in Upper Tantallon with a bachelor of music in vocal jazz from St. Francis Xavier University. No, he doesn’t scat sing his sermons, but music has always been a vital part of his life through performance as a vocalist, pianist, choral composer and arranger, songwriter, and teacher. Mostly through the queer-affirming United Church of Canada, Rick has formed and led children’s groups, youth bands, adult music ensembles, and community choirs of up to 80 singers to perform his original choral works for Christmas and Easter.

Our Board

HGMC is guided by a volunteer Board of Directors who help steward our mission, support our members, and shape the future of the chorus. Together, they bring care, leadership, and community focus to the work behind the music.

Ready to Be Part of Something Real?

Whether you sing, want to support our work, or simply believe in what we do, there's a place for you here. (Our shiny new website is under construction, new Member Application Coming Soon)