Out Loud Chorus Celebrates 30 Years With a Trip Down The Yellow Brick Road

New artistic director Dusty Francis leads 150-member Ann Arbor chorus into anniversary weekend with 'Friends of Dorothy' concert

OLC Jan 2026 — Out Loud Chorus rehearsal. Photo: Out Loud Chorus/Chao Sun

Published: January 22, 2026 | Last Updated: January 22, 2026

There's something about singing together that creates magic. For Out Loud Chorus, that magic has been building for three decades, and this weekend they're ready to share it with audiences as they celebrate 30 years of radical welcome, queer joy and damn good music.

"Our existence as queer and trans and allied people is inherently political in our current time," says Dusty Francis, the chorus's newly appointed artistic director. Francis has spent decades as a choral musician, and he brings that depth of experience to a role that's about far more than conducting.

The anniversary concert, themed "Friends of Dorothy," takes inspiration from "The Wizard of Oz," "Wicked" and "The Wiz" to tell a story that resonates deeply with LGBTQ+ communities: the search for belonging and the discovery that home can be found in community and within ourselves.

"It's the same story that we see over and over again in these different iterations," Francis tells Pride Source. "It's a story of someone who feels like they haven't quite found where they belong, someone who's looking for home and they find it in their community and in themselves."

For chorus member Trisha Miller, that story isn't just metaphor. It's her life.

"When I moved to the Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor area with my two children in 2003, it was because I wanted to come out in an area of Michigan where I felt I would be accepted," Miller shares. "I have sung in choruses since I was a child, so I searched for an LGBTQ+ chorus before moving, and was thrilled to find OLC online. From my first rehearsal in Autumn of 2003, I knew I had found my people."

Miller's story captures what makes Out Loud Chorus special. She met her partner Sandy Lambert during her first year with the group, and they've been together for 21 years. Many of her closest friends have been or currently are part of the chorus.

"Out Loud Chorus is a very important part of my life. It is my community, and has helped to form my chosen family," Miller says. "I truly don't know what my life would be like now without OLC."

The chorus has grown exponentially in recent years, particularly since the pandemic. What was once a steady group of around 50 members has exploded to nearly 150, ranging from teenagers to members who, as Francis notes with a laugh, "would be furious if I told you their age."

That growth reflects the chorus's fundamental philosophy, one centered on radical acceptance and welcoming. There are no auditions. No prerequisites. Just a simple question: Do you want to sing?

"We take everybody," Francis emphasizes. "Every voice in that chorus makes us better. There's nobody we're sort of looking to hide or having to figure out. Every single person in that chorus makes us stronger."

This weekend's performances promise to deliver what Francis calls "a really brilliant, fun, funny, touching, family-friendly show." Audiences can expect music from Judy Garland and her collaborator Harold Arlen, Lady Gaga, Sarah Bareilles, plus show tunes, a cappella arrangements and classical pieces. There's dancing, a live band, acting scenes and plenty of surprises in store for audiences.

But beyond the entertainment value, Francis sees the concert as serving a crucial purpose in this particular moment.

"There are lots of forces at work that are seeking to write us out of existence in law," he says. "Out Loud exists in part to be a bulwark and a counterpoint to that. We say very loudly and with 150 members here in Washtenaw County that no, you do belong exactly as you are. You don't need to change a thing. We want you here."

That message of belonging echoes through the 30-year history of the organization. Francis, who moved to Ann Arbor two and a half years ago from New York City to work as the director of music ministries at the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor, discovered Out Loud through a Google search for "queer choir" before he even arrived in Michigan. He got involved shortly after meeting members at a community sing following the 2024 election, and when the former artistic director left to become a professor at Rutgers, Francis jumped at the opportunity to lead, bringing with him an impressive background in choral music, including musical leadership roles in New York City and London.

"It's a special group in a special place," he reflects. "Anybody who touches it sort of feels that magnetic pull. It's rather irresistible."

Out Loud Chorus members practicing choreography. Photo: Out Loud Chorus/Chao Sun

For anyone inspired by the anniversary concert, there's good news. New member night is scheduled for Feb. 2. The chorus takes new members at the start of each concert cycle, and the next one begins after these anniversary performances wrap up.

"We invite folks to come and learn a bit more about us. We sing a little bit, they get to hear about the chorus, we have snacks, we talk," Francis explains. "We typically find that most of those people say yes, this is for me."

As Francis notes, it's late January, a dark and cold time of year. But with 30 years of history behind them and a stage full of voices ready to tell stories of finding home, Out Loud Chorus is offering something the community needs: warmth, welcome and the reminder that there's a place for everyone.

"Whether that's singing with us or whether that's in the audience or whether that's just existing," Francis says, "every voice makes us better and stronger. That's true of the whole world."

The "Friends of Dorothy" 30th anniversary concert takes place this weekend. Tickets are still available at olconline.org.