“Pine Tree Performing Arts, Incorporated, is dedicated to excellence in the choral arts. We are committed to providing a positive, productive, educational, social and entertainment experience for our members, friends and audience. Through our music, we strive to educate ourselves and the community at large by delivering the message of social acceptance and diversity.”

• Harmony - We strive for harmony in our music and in our relationships between all members and with the larger community.
• Diversity - We are made up of unique individuals with unique talents peforming a wide range of songs at a variety of venues. Our differences are our strength.
• Education - We educate ourselves as well as others through our presence, our performances and our people.
• Community - We are a community of singers and supporters, striving to educate and entertain ourselves and the larger community around us.
• Music - We promote social acceptance and diversity through our music in an educational and entertaining atmosphere.

The Maine Gay Men's Chorus was formed after the Boston Gay Men's Chrous presented a concert in Portland in the summer of 1992. At that time, a challenge was presented to the audience to form a chorus here, and out of that, MGMC was born. Since that time we have become a place of musical and artistic excellence, as well as a safe place for gay men to gather and interact socially.

We are aware that it is not always easy being gay in different parts of the state of Maine. As such, we try to take our message out to different parts of the state whenever possible. We have performed in Auburn, Bangor, Bath, Ellsworth, Farmington, Gardiner, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Northeast Harbor, Orono and Waterville as well as in Portsmouth, NH, Boston, MA, Tampa, FL, San Jose, CA, and Montreal, QB, Canada. Throughout our history, we've had more than 150 men sing with us and generally have a chorus between 30 and 40 active singers.

Bruce Fithian was MGMC's first Artistic Director and he skillfully guided the organization for the first four years of our existence. His passion for musical excellence and powerful teaching style helped to create a music organization of the highest quality and integrity. It was under Bruce's leadership that the chorus commissioned its first major work The Inner Room of the Soul, by acclaimed composer Daniel Pinkham. Ed Reichert was our second director and brought a refreshing theatrical style to our shows that proved to be very popular with our audience. Our third director was Miguel Felipe. Fresh out of school, with his youthful energy and enthusiasm, MGMC really thrived and matured as a musical performing arts organization, hitting new heights artistically. Bruce Fithian has returned as a guest conductor for our 15th anniversary concert "Photographs and Memories".

Art Kenne (pronounced like Kennebunk) is the current, and fourth Artistic Director in the 17-year history of the chorus. Art has set the chorus on a 3-year artistic program designed to pursue the organization's vision, with a performance at the Gay And Lesbian Association of choruses (GALA) international festival in the summer of 2012 as a major focal point.