Dr. Gerald Gurss (he/him), Artistic Director
Dr. Gerald Gurss is Artistic Director of TCGMC. Gerald joined us at the start of our 38th season with over 10 years of experience with GALA Choruses (Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses). He was most recently Artistic Director of One Voice Chorus & Sotto Voce Chamber Ensemble in Charlotte, North Carolina and Founding Artistic Director of Midland Men’s Chorus: The Gay Men’s Chorus of Columbia in Columbia, South Carolina.
Dr. Gurss is a native Midwesterner from Kansas. He received his bachelor’s degree in voice at Emporia State University where he studied with Terry Barham. He received his master’s degree in voice with a choral cognate from Miami University, where he studied with William Bausano and Ethan Sperry. During his studies at Miami, he was the assistant director for the MU Men’s Glee Club and prepared a chorus for the Cincinnati Ballet’s production of Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” After leaving Miami, Gerald led a successful music program at the Leavenworth Catholic Schools in Leavenworth, KS.
Gerald received his DMA in choral conducting from the University of South Carolina, where he studied with Dr. Larry Wyatt and Dr. Alicia Walker. His research focus is the inclusion and pedagogy of transgender singers in the choral rehearsal. This research has granted him speaking engagements at Wingate University and the University of South Carolina.
In 2015, Gerald collaborated in the founding of Midlands Men’s chorus: The Gay Men’s Chorus of Columbia, SC and served as its artistic director until 2018. Currently, Gerald resides in Charlotte, NC where he serves as the artistic director for the One Voice Chorus (Charlotte’s LGBT chorus) and the chamber ensemble, Sotto Voce.
In the spring of 2017, Gurss collaborated with Nashville in Harmony to bring the U.S. premiere of James McCarthy’s Codebreaker (The Story of Alan Turning, set for SATB chorus, orchestra and soprano soloist) to the Charlotte and Nashville communities.
In April of 2018, One Voice collaborated with Allen University, an HBCU (historically black college and university) in Columbia, South Carolina, to present the regional premiere of Bayard Rustin: The Man Behind the Dream.
During his studies at the University of South Carolina, Gerald has been a finalist for the American Prize in Choral Composition three times (2015, 2016, and 2017).
Most recently, Gerald was appointed as the TTBB Repertoire Chair for the Southern Division of the American Choral Director’s Association. Gerald has been commissioned to write choral work for the following organizations: One Voice Charlotte, The Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte, Providence United Methodist Church (Charlotte, NC), The New Jersey Gay Men’s Chorus, The Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego, The Women’s Chorus of San Diego, The Richmond Men’s Chorus (VA), Turtle Creek Chorale (TX), Sine Nomine (Denver, CO), and the University of South Carolina Women’s Chorus.
Kevin Stocks (he/him), Executive Director
Kevin Stocks realized a passion for choral music at an early age. Singing through the ranks of the Oregon Children’s Choir in his hometown of Eugene, he had the opportunity to be part of the first Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy at the renowned Oregon Bach Festival under the direction of Dr. Anton Armstrong.
He attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, singing and touring with the St. Olaf Choir for three years before graduating with a BA in Music and a concentration in management studies. Upon graduation, Kevin toured North America and Asia with family stage shows in the capacity of company manager before returning to Oregon to assume a role at the University of Oregon Alumni Association in alumni relations.
Shortly after that, Kevin was drawn back to music and returned to Minnesota to take on a new position in the office of Music Organizations at St. Olaf College. For almost 10 years he promoted the tours and recordings of the St. Olaf Choir, St. Olaf Band and St. Olaf Orchestra, including successful feature performances at renowned concert venues around the US such as Carnegie Hall, Severance Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall and Meyerson Symphony Center. Kevin was also part of a movement to bring live simulcast performances to the big screen and contributed to the promotion and production of the 2007 Christmas at St. Olaf: Where Peace and Love and Hope Abide that was seen by 2.5 million people.
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the St. Olaf Choir, Kevin played an integral role in the events, concerts and recordings that recognized the ensemble’s founding in 1912. This included a reunion concert, documentary, tour to Norway and another simulcast of the The St. Olaf Christmas Festival which was seen in over 370 theaters Nationwide.
During Kevin’s tenure at St. Olaf he produced over a dozen audio and video recordings for retail, and managed St. Olaf Records, the college’s private recording label. This included the 2013 Christmas in Norway with the St. Olaf Choir which was broadcast on PBS stations around the country and received the Upper Midwest Regional Emmy Award for Special Event Coverage, the widely popular Great Hymns of Faith series, as well as the annual recordings of the St. Olaf Christmas Festival.
For the last four years Kevin has been the Director of Events for Gray Duck Media, producers of The Beer Dabbler craft beer festivals and Growler Magazine.
Kevin served on the Executive Board of the College Music Tour Manager’s Association and is currently a member of the board of directors for Cantus, an eight-member male vocal a cappella ensemble based in Minneapolis.
Kevin can be reached at kstocks@tcgmc.org and 612-339-7664.
Stephanie Gaw (she/her), Operations Manager
Stephanie is now in her 20th season with the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus, first as an Administrative Assistant, then Office Manager and now as TCGMC’s Operations Manager (read: does a little bit of everything and keeps it all going). Prior to joining the Chorus, Stephanie worked for Target Corporation for 16 years in several financial departments and then became part of the support group to usher in email as we know it to the entire corporation.
A native of the Philadelphia area, she is a graduate of the University of Minnesota earning a BS in Agricultural Economics, with a Marketing emphasis. Stephanie and her partner of 39 years, Wendy, live in Brooklyn Center and enjoy escaping to their cabin in Ely all year round and are big Gopher sports fans!
Stephanie can be reached at: sgaw@tcgmc.org and 612-339-7664
Timothy De Prey (he/him), Principal Accompanist
The holiday concert begins Timothy’s 31st season as Principal Accompanist for the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus. Throughout his career with the Chorus, he has been in demand as an accompanist for GALA (Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses). In the summer of 1998, he was chosen to be the accompanist for the Festival Chorus at the Gay Games in Amsterdam and in the summer of 2000 was chosen to be the accompanist for the Festival Men’s Chorus at Festival 2000 in San Jose, under the direction of Grammy winning director, Vance George.
De Prey can be heard on 9 of TCGMC’s CDs, on Proud and Peaceful, a CD of solo piano music from pianists with GALA and on his own solo CD, in the evening air, a collection of nocturnes, lullabies and night songs. In 2010, De Prey released I Love a Piano, in celebration of his 20th anniversary as principal accompanist of the Chorus. The CD also features the world premiere of A Quiet Place, written by Craig Carnahan in loving memory of Mary Ellen Sarafolean, an extraordinary woman of quiet grace and beauty.
Timothy is the Director of Individual Instruction and Music Therapy at the MacPhail Center for Music, a position he has held since 1995. De Prey has a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Music Therapy from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, is a board certified – music therapist and has a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota. His many credits include the role of the accompanist in Park Square Theatre’s production of Master Class, the Minnesota Opera, Opera 101, the College of St. Catherine’s, The Calhoun Beach Club, Bryant Lake Bowl and the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire’s Statesmen Men’s Chorus under the direction of Morris Hayes.
.TCGMC Board of Directors 2023-2024
Kenny Beck* (he/him), Board Chair – Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, Refocus Recovery
Phil Boelter (he/him), Treasurer – Consultant, Catholic Finance Corporation
Kenny Christopher (he/him) – Artist/Designer, The White Bat
Chuck Huebner* (he/him) – National Sales & Logistics, ATS, Inc.
Lance Morgan (he/him), Secretary – Business Systems Analyst/Sr. Tech Consultant, OptumRx
Brent Morris-Zangla* (he/him), Membership President – Manager, Bobby & Steve’s Auto World
Steve Munnelly* (he/him), Director, Medicare Member Experience at Elevance Health
Zach Rider* (he/him), Membership VP – Program Manager, Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota
Justin Rudnick* (he/she/they), Vice Chair – Associate Professor of Communication Studies & Graduate Studies Coordinator, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Carlos Saldaña* (he/him) – Manager of Attractions & Entertainment, Crayola
Randy Schafer (he/him) – Retired Music Educator
Gregory Truman* (he/him) – Sr. Principle Data Scientist, Veritas Technologies
Margaret Westin (she/her) – Attorney, Independent Hearing Officer, Consultant
* – Denotes Singing Chorus member
