Michael Semancik has joined the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus (PGMC) as its Interim Director and Conductor. He will be taking the reins from the organization’s long-time Artistic Director and Conductor, Joseph J. Buches, who is set to retire on July 31.
Semancik’s introduction to PGMC actually came early on in Buches’ 20 years with the chorus.
“I’d heard of Gay Men’s Choruses before, and things like that, but it was never really on my radar. And some friends I had met, you know, back in 2007 in my master’s program [were] like, ‘Oh, we gotta go PGMC, they’re fantastic.” And I was like, “OK…”, and I went, and I was just blown away. I was blown away by just the level of musicality that was happening, the love from the chorus and the love and just the support from the audience,” he recalled.
They had gone to that year’s holiday concert that featured a mix of Christmas and Hanukkah songs that Semancik described as light and fun and made for an enjoyable night.
He added that although he was on a different career path at the time, the night also sparked an interest in conducting for the chorus. Since then, he has supported the chorus as an audience member and hasn’t missed a concert in three years since moving to Wilmington, Delaware with his husband.
From Pittsburgh to now
Semancik grew up in a small town outside of Pittsburgh. He received his bachelor’s in music education from a school in the area, Slippery Rock University. He also has a master’s of music from University of Delaware.
After completing his master’s, he taught high school in New Jersey for 14 years, 11 of those being at Morris Knoll High School as the Director of Choral Activities. He conducted a chorus of 300 students and a select chorus of 70 students. His select chorus performed at places like Carnegie Hall and the East Room of the White House.
He also took the students on three European tours; going to Ireland, the Czech Republic and Austria, and the Baltics. The idea for the tours came from his time in his Master’s program.
“We did a very similar tour, at the University of Delaware, and it changed my life,” Semancik explained. “To travel as an ensemble and as a choir, to just to get on the plane together and go and experience new cultures together and share concerts with other choirs that don’t speak your language, and just to kind of have all of these really remarkable human moments, was life changing for me, and I wanted to include that in my teaching and being a part of the educational process that I feel very strongly about.”
Semacnik pitched the idea to the school board and was told yes — as long as the school board president could come along. Which, Semancik noted, he did.
After Morris Knolls, Semancik served as Assistant Professor and Director of Choirs and Orchestra at Goucher College in Baltimore.
When the Interim Director and Conductor job opened, he was excited at the prospect of leading PGMC.
“So I applied and when I got the job, I was so excited and just ecstatic. It’s almost like a dream come true in so many ways,” Semancik said.
“Not to sound cliche,” he added with a small laugh.
In taking the job, he’s also taking a break from education, a career field he’s been in since he was 22. He’s also looking at the opportunity as a way to give back to the community.
He said that one of the reasons he’s impressed with PGMC as an organization, is what they do for Philadelphia’s queer community.
“And one of the things I feel very strongly about is the youth engagement. You know, I think about my queer students at Morris Knolls, and even the ones that Goucher, that would really benefit so much from having an afternoon or a morning concert and a question and answer and maybe a little breakout session and to talk about things. And that’s what they do. And I’m very, very excited to continue that and expand on that, and really try to engage as many youth in the Philadelphia area as possible,” said Semancik.
During the 2024-2025 season, he also wants to increase membership, increase community outreach, and pair up with another local queer non-profit. This is in addition to putting on the chorus’ three big concerts.
Looking ahead
The interim position is a year-long appointment, but Semancik hopes to stick around longer than that and will be applying for the permanent position.
After he was chosen as interim, Semancik had the opportunity to join PGMC in Minneapolis at the GALA Festival. The GALA Festival is the world’s largest LGBTQ+ choral festival that takes place every four years. This year’s featured 122 choruses made up of 7,000 performers.
He used the opportunity to get to know the chorus members more.
“What really struck me and made me even more excited for this position is they love being together, they love making music together, they have high expectations for themselves as an ensemble, and they love to be pushed musically, and they love to be a part of the queer community and to do as much as they can for other people,” he said.
He added that being able to talk to the chorus members has made him more excited for what they’ll be able to do together in the fall.
“I’m excited to just be a part of the [Philadelphia queer] community and give back and do as much as I can to support everyone, and have PGMC be the vehicle for that,” Semancik said. “I look forward to all of that.”
As of right now, his first event as conductor will be a BROLO (a small ensemble of PGMC members) concert that will take place in Morristown, New Jersey in October. The full list of this season’s events will be released next week.