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ABOUT US
Artistic Director
Artistic Director: Karen Dietz
Originally from Massachusetts, director Karen Dietz possesses a wealth of experience as a musician, performer, teacher and musical director. Her background reflects her passion for musical performance and education.
While in the USA, she participated in choirs and performance groups such as the Holy Cross College Choir, Northern Harmony, Quadrivium, Libana, and Revels, Inc, and has appeared in college opera and musical theatre performances such as Cabaret, Holst's Savitri and Milhaud's Minute Operas, and Kiss Me, Kate.
More recently, in addition to her work with LOUD & PROUD, Karen has worked with secondary school pupils in musical theatre and has taught voice classes for Edinburgh's Jewel and Esk Valley College and led singing weekends for Folk Camps Society in the UK.
She also teaches guitar to both children and adults, and can be seen performing folk, acoustic and Americana music in the Edinburgh area.
Our music
We perform a repertoire of music as diverse as we are, including simple rounds, popular music, early American shape-note songs, traditional music, light classics, festive and seasonal songs, lesbian/gay anthems, and show tunes (of course!). We are also lucky enough to have some talented musicians within the choir who have arranged pieces for the choir to perform.
Our history
On 25th January 2005, at the LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, a dozen or so very nervous singers of varying abilities and an extremely talented and enthusiastic musical director, Emily Isaacson (a MA student from Maine, USA) met as part of a 10 week choir class. Within 30 minutes our first performance date had been set for 29th March - we were terrified!! As the weeks passed, a dedicated choir of 8 singers, inspired by Emily's enthusiasm, rehearsed and grew in confidence. On the night, the performing buzz was awesome, our audience loved us and Scotland's LGBT Choir was born!
LOUD & PROUD @ Sala - Pride Scotia
2005
But, the 10 weeks were over, and Emily's Scottish study sojourn was coming to an end. We had no musical director and no venue, but we were six singers with a passion and determination to continue! We kept meeting, but instead of singing we tried to find a solution. Emily agreed to lead us towards a performance in Sala for Pride Scotia. With 4 fabulous new members, we began rehearsing in a member's flat in Leith until we moved back to the LGBT Centre for Health and Well Being.
Our call for a new musical director was heard in Dunbar, and Karen Dietz joined us with a view to leading us "part-time". Emily and Karen's combined talents led us to an extremely successful gig in a packed-out Sala! Loud & Proud were on the map!
We bade a sad farewell to Emily and welcomed Karen, who took over the reins when we began again in August 05 with a dozen new members on our first night!!
And the rest, as they say, is history...