“Everything changed for the gay choral movement because they had twins: music and mission. They weren’t just there for the music, and they weren’t just there for the mission. I’ve been feeding my twins every day, and I feed them equally. Audiences that are interested in just music for music making are dying out. There are a lot more reasons to get them in: many concerts can reach into the community and be of service.”
Tim Seelig is a conductor, speaker, author and educator. He is the Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and Conductor Emeritus of the Turtle Creek Chorale in Dallas, Texas. He serves as founding conductor of the Portland Sage Singers.
Dr. Seelig holds four degrees, including a Diploma from the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas. He has eight books and DVDs on choral technique published by Hal Leonard Music, several of which are best-sellers. His memoir, Tale of Two Tims, was published in 2020. He made his operatic debut in St. Gallen, Switzerland and solo debut at Carnegie Hall. He has been conducting at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center for 30 years, including an upcoming appearance at Lincoln Center in November 2025.
He has conducted over 60 recordings which have been on Billboard Top Ten and iTunes Top Ten classical charts. His choruses have been the topic of three documentaries. The first PBS documentary was awarded the national Emmy for best documentary. The most recent had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, won the Audience Favorite and is streaming on Paramount +.
He has commissioned major choral works for 35 years. Some of these include the first AIDS Requiem, When We No Longer Touch; Sing for the Cure for the Komen Breast Cancer Foundation featuring Dr. Maya Angelou; “Testimony,” by Stephen Schwartz and the 2022 “Songs of the Phoenix” by Andrew Lippa, Stephen Schwartz and Stephen Sondheim.
Aside from guest-conducting, he is often seen trading in his podium for the speaking stage. He won the Moth Grand Slam and his recent TEDx Talk has passed 100K views.
Fun facts: he conducted the Guinness Book of World Records Longest Choral Concert and carried the Olympic torch as a community Hero. He has not run since.
He is the proud grandfather of the amazing Clara Skye, Eden Mae, Cora Rose, and Ivy Hope.
To get in touch with Tim, you can find him on Facebook (@tim.seelig) or email him at tgseelig@gmail.com.
Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.
Podcast music from Podcast.co
Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson
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