About the Concert
On Saturday, May 20, 2023, the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band celebrated its 45th anniversary with Spotlight on the 70s, a gala concert at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. Earlier Spotlight shows in San Francisco had saluted Broadway and Hollywood. This year the show moved to Oakland to celebrate the decade the Band was born.
Artistic Director Pete Nowlen led the Official Band of San Francisco through hits from the 1970s, including “Bohemian Rhapsody” and music by Elton John, ABBA, Carole King, and the Village People. The evening also featured a piano bar and live and silent auctions.
World Premiere
The concert included the world premiere, its first performance anywhere, of Awakening by Roger Zare, the first composer commissioned through the Band’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Commission Program. Awakening is built around the moment a person realizes and embraces their identity. A pre-show talk introduced the piece before the main show.
Featured Performers
Pete Nowlen
Artistic Director
Pete Nowlen was appointed Artistic Director of the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band in August 2013. At the time of the concert, he was on the faculty of both Sacramento State and UC Davis, where he was Director of Concert Bands, and held Artistic Director posts with Camerata California Chamber Choir and the Rancho Cordova Civic Light Orchestra, as well as serving as Artistic Advisor of Music in the Mountains in Nevada County. He founded Sacramento’s VITA Academy, dedicated to revitalizing classical music through community engagement and school music programs. His conducting credits include the Sacramento, Auburn, Camellia, UC Davis, and Sacramento State symphonies and more than a dozen major productions, from La bohème to The Rocky Horror Show.
Donna Sachet
Evening Host
Donna Sachet joined the Band once again as host of Spotlight on the 70s. At the time of the concert, Donna had called San Francisco home for 30 years, dedicating her talents as a singer, emcee, fundraiser, hostess, producer, and activist to the LGBTQ+ community. As the 30th elected Empress of San Francisco, she has appeared across the city and in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Australia. She is proud to have sung the National Anthem for the SF Giants in 2009, co-anchored the live television coverage of the SF Pride Parade for more than 15 years, starred in the weekly Sunday’s a Drag show at the Starlight Room for nearly 15 years, hosted her holiday cabaret Songs of the Season for 25 years, and co-chaired Pride Brunch with Gary Virginia for 24 years.
Phaedra Tillery Boughton
Featured Performer
Phaedra Tillery Boughton is a Bay Area actor, director, playwright, casting director, production associate, and arts advocate. Her theater credits include Sleeping Beauty (Mission Burrito), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Armelia McQueen), The 1940’s Radio Hour (Geneva), Clybourne Park (director), Newsies, The Color Purple, and To Kill a Mockingbird at Hillbarn, Caroline, or Change and Little Shop of Horrors at Ray of Light Theatre, Newsies at Woodminster, Tarzan at PAP, and Avenue Q at NCTC. She was a 2022–23 Theatre Bay Area Arts Leadership Residency recipient, partnered with SFBATCO. She challenges traditional ideas of theater and finds new ways to push the boundaries of creativity and inclusion in the arts.
Special Thanks
Spotlight on the 70s was generously supported by:
