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CULTURE

Band

CONCERT

DATE:Tuesday, August 12

START: 7:30p.m.

LOCATION: State Theatre, Playhouse Square, 1519 Euclid Ave., downtown Cleveland SPECTATORS: $30 (Band); $48 (Band and Choir); at door or http://bitly.com/GG9BandTkts DETAILS: Strike up the band! More than 100 musicians from across the world descend on the birthplace of rock and roll to perform a concert, Personal Bests: Celebrating Passion, Music & Achievement. The performance at the State Theatre combines contemporary and traditional band music to capture the spirit and harmony created by the Gay Games.

Returning to the podium to conduct the Gay Games 9 Band is Jadine Louie. Former director of the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, Louie held that role longer than any other director in its history. She also has appeared at a wide range of LGBA conferences and events, and teaches in addition to guest conducting.

MARCHING BAND

DATE: Saturday, August 9

START:7 p.m.

LOCATION:Quicken Loans Arena,

downtown Cleveland

SPECTATORS: $20 to $75; at door or http://bitly.com/GG9OpenTkts

DETAILS: Spectators will first hear the band blast when members march into Opening Ceremony at Quicken Loans Arena. The band will share the power of a typical US. Midwest band "half-time" show" as it pumps up the crowd with the latest hits and toe-tapping beats that will make everybody want to get out of their seats and dance.

Laura Blake will direct the Gay Games Band. She has been a member of the Lesbian and Gay Marching Band Association since 2008. A founding member of The Pride of Indy Bands, she is the marching and pep ensemble director. She also served as artistic director of the 2012 "Keep the Promise on AIDS March" and was the assistant artistic director for the presidential inaugural parade in 2013.

PHOTOS: KAT FITZGERALD

Chorus

FESTIVAL CHORUS CONCERT

DATE: Wednesday, August 13

START: 7:30 p.m.

LOCATION: State Theatre, 1519 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, OH 44115

SPECTATORS: $30 (Choir); $48 (Choir and Band); at door or http://bitly.com/GG9ChoirTkts

Get ready to let the spirit of the music lift you out of your seat as more 150 singers from across

the world join together to form the Gay Games 9 Festival Chorus. After three days of intense rehearsal, the chorus will put on a show featuring classic and contemporary works. Dennis Coleman is directing the Gay Games Festival Chorus. Coleman is the director of the Seattle Men's and Seattle Women's choruses, whose combined membership exceeds the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He directed the Seattle Men's Chorus in the inaugural Gay Games held in 1982 in San Francisco, and has taken them on multiple international tours to Europe, New Zealand and South Africa. In addition to his duties in Seattle, Coleman tours the country as a guest conductor throughout the United States and Canada.

OPENING CEREMONY

DATE: Saturday, August, 9

START:7 p.m.

LOCATION:Quicken Loans Arena, downtown Cleveland

SPECTATORS: $20 to $75; at door or http://bitly.com/GG9OpenTk

Chorus members will be part of the Opening Ceremony too. After entering Quicken Loans Arena in the Parade of Participants, they will become featured performers under the direction of Dennis Coleman in a moving tribute to Broadway.

VENUE: State Theatre & Playhouse Square

The Band and Chorus concerts take place in the fabulous State Theatre. Built in 1921, the theater is part of Cleveland's Playhouse Square, the second largest theater district in the country (Lincoln Center in New York is first.) Featuring ornate Italian Renaissance architecture, the murals in the Ireland lobby represent the performing arts across the world, a fitting connection to the diversity represented in the Gay Games. Most recently, the district received a multi-million-dollar makeover in which the world's largest outdoor chandelier was installed.

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SUMMA HEALTH SYSTEM

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Supporting...

PARTICIPATION, INCLUSION AND PERSONAL BESTTM

Summa Health System Welcomes Gay Games Participants, Family and Friends.

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CULTURE

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PHOTOS: BOB OLAYAS