HomeCommunity NewsLocal Resident is New Executive Director of the Gay Men’s Chorus

Local Resident is New Executive Director of the Gay Men’s Chorus

Local resident Jonathan Weedman has been named the new executive director of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, the organization announced recently.

Local resident Jonathan Weedman (seated, center), the new executive director of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, is pictured with colleagues (seated, from left) Brianne Cohen and Kathleen Wrabley. Back: James Geiger, Taylor Hartley, Kevin Bolling, Lee Lightfoot, Gavin Thrasher and Dr. Joe Nadeau.

An ardent supporter of the arts and of LGBT equal rights advocacy, Weedman is an award-winning business leader and philanthropist who will shepherd the organization’s 270-plus choral membership, as well as work in unison with its team of board and staff members, including its board chair John Duran.
“Jonathan Weedman is admired across greater Los Angeles for his LGBT and fine arts advocacy,” said Duran. “He will lead GMCLA through our next chapters advancing LGBT equality, protecting our youth and teaching about our culture and history.”
Weedman was the “esteemed longtime Wells Fargo Foundation senior vice president [who] will lead the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles to even greater heights as its new executive director,” according to a GMCLA press release. He “will bring his cherished zeal for stewarding a vast spectrum of Southern California-based community arts organizations and service engagement programs to the internationally acclaimed choral ensemble and arts organization.”
GMCLA, founded in 1979, recently kicked off its 38th season. “The organization has proven an inspiring track record of pioneering robust educational youth outreach programs, including the launch of its national ‘It Gets Better’ tour; its Alive Music Project, an anti-bullying program that has reached nearly 50,000 middle and high school students in the last 10 years; as well as through its annual Voice Awards, honoring those who speak out against bigotry, homophobia and injustice by using their powerful public platforms,” according to a statement.
A classically trained pianist, Weedman was hand-selected by GMCLA’s board of directors to lead the organization “based upon his incomparable résumé, as well as his unprecedented devotion to community and diversity outreach programs for more than two decades, including managing and directing an annual charitable contributions budget of more than $25 million as the senior vice president of the Wells Fargo Foundation; and before that, overseeing a portfolio of more than 500 local nonprofit charitable institutions as a banker,” according to GMCLA.
“After an incredible 27-year career at Wells Fargo, I’d like to personally thank Jonathan Weedman for his great work and endless dedication to the stagecoach family,” said David DiCristofaro, Wells Fargo’s Greater Los Angeles lead region president. “Jonathan has been a strong champion for the nonprofit community and has been a tireless advocate on behalf of Greater Los Angeles. We will miss him and wish him much success on his new endeavor as the executive director for the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles.”
Says actor and philanthropist William Shatner, “I have been working with Jonathan Weedman for more than 15 years as he, through Wells Fargo, has helped the Hollywood Charity Horse Show so generously. This wonderful partnership has aided an extraordinary number of charities in the Los Angeles area. Now Jonathan has moved on to another exceptional organization. We went to see the holiday performance of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles and it was totally entertaining. Under Jonathan’s leadership, I’m sure it will grow and prosper and he will have the same impact as he had with the Hollywood Charity Horse Show.”
Weedman has served as a commissioner for the city of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs; founding chairman of the Board of L.A. County Grand Park Foundation; vice chairman of the Board of Project Angel Food; and advisor for the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts, as well as currently serves on the boards of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Colburn School and Inner City Youth Orchestra.
This past year, he acted as co-chair of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Hollywood Bowl opening to raise funds for music education, and he co-chaired the Huntington Library’s “Evening Among the Roses” fundraising event.
For more information on the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles and its schedule, visit gmcla.org.

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