Since its formation in 1979, the Queer Big Apple Corps (formerly the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps) has been spreading “The Sound of Love and Joy” for audiences across the United States and Canada.

As the first LGBTQIA+ identified marching band to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Queer Big Apple Corps Marching Band has received countless coveted “best band” awards in parades large and small from coast to coast and has been seen by millions of people around the world not only at the Macy’s Parade, but also two Ticker Tape Parades; in Pride Nights for the Mets, the Nets and the Knicks; and in 15–20 parades and street performances annually.

Meanwhile, the Queer Big Apple Corps Symphonic Band has played Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher and Alice Tully halls and made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2009 — the band’s 30th anniversary year. Over four decades the band has shared the stage with such luminaries as Harvey Fierstein, Rita Moreno, Liz Calloway, Arthur Laurents and Liz Smith. Not only has the band performed with the famous, it has performed for the famous: Kathy Najimy, Tony Shalhoub, Annette Bening and Sutton Foster. A proud founding member of the Pride Bands Alliance, the Big Apple Corps has also performed with the massed band in both Inaugural Parades for Bill Clinton and marched in both Inaugural Parades for Barack Obama. 

With more than 200 musicians, color guard and band aides, the Queer Big Apple Corps plans to go on lifting the hearts of audiences in concert halls and on parade routes for decades to come.