Coastside Pride Chorus was founded in July, 2023 as the first musical organization for the LGBTQ community and its allies servicing the coastal towns south of San Francisco: Pacifica, Montara, Moss Beach, El Granada, Half Moon Bay and Pescadero.
After a successful first concert in August of the same year, Coastside Pride Chorus launched its inaugural season in September.
Founding Artistic Director John Lehrack has worked as a professional musician for over 30 years. He recently held the position of Professor of Choral Performance and Music Theory at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, WA. Other faculty appointments include South Seattle College, Hawaii Tokai International University, Honolulu Community College, Kapiolani Community College, Hawaii Pacific University, Oakland School for the Arts and New Roads School. As a conductor he founded and directed both the Gay Men's Chorus of Honolulu and SATBQ: The Women's Chorus of Honolulu. He was also the music director for the Jewish Folk Chorus of San Francisco, South Coast Chorale, Equal Voices, and was Assistant Director and Principal Accompanist for the Oakland/East Bay Gay Men's Chorus. He currently conducts Na Leo Nahenehe: San Franicsco's Hawaiian Chorus and is the director of music at Coastside Lutheran Church in Half Moon Bay. As a pianist, soloist and conductor, he has also appeared with Hawaii Opera Theatre, the Solano Symphony, San Francisco City Summer Opera, the Maui Symphony Chorus, San Francisco Cabaret Opera, and elsewhere. John's original compositions and arrangements may be found on SheetMusicPlus and SheetMusicDirect. In 2022 he also published Contemplative Spirituals for Solo Piano on Amazon. In his free time he loves reading, hiking, spending time with friends, dog walking and cuddling with his cat, Lilo.
Principal Accompanist Pat McNutt has accompanied school musicals, musical theatre, instrumentalists, bay area choirs, and high school and community college choir classes for more than 40 years. She retired from 30 years of teaching piano in 2019, and from 17 years as organist/music director at Community United Methodist Church in Half Moon Bay. For many years Pat was active in the Music Teachers Association of California, administering the Certificate of Merit evaluation program, and serving on the Board of Directors. She thinks musicians never really retire, and she is currently pianist for The Peninsula Girls Chorus Coastside. Pat enjoys collaborating in instrumental ensembles, and is very pleased to be working with The Coastside Pride Chorus. She enjoys taking long walks, reading historical novels, spending time with friends, relating to grown children and grandchildren, and has lived on the beautiful San Mateo Coast since 1979. Pat has been married to Terry Plank for 62 years.
Sign Language Interpreter Susan Takalo has been a performance interpreter for many years. After studying ASL at College of San Mateo, Cabrillo, and Ohlone Colleges, she started her career interpreting in classroom settings—accounting and plumbing being the most challenging. She was a member/writer and interpreter for FatLip Readers’ Theatre, a fat liberation group, for 15 years. While she is not a singer, she loves sharing song through signing.