Strike up the band!  The award-winning Lakeside Pride Freedom Band entertains over 500,000 people each summer in parade and pep-band events in the Chicago area and across the Midwest including cities in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana.  Whether performing a military march in the Memorial Day Parade, “The Addams Family” in the Halsted Halloween Parade, or songs with a gay twist such as the band's signature tune "We Are Family!" during a Pride parade, this group’s distinctive style always draws cheers.

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The Freedom Band also performs annually at the Chicago Marathon and during several Chicago Force home football games and has appeared with the Chicago chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights; the Queen City Rainbow Band of Cincinnati, OH; and the Rainbow Lightning Band of Milwaukee, WI. Members have also performed with the massed Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA) at the Millennium March in Washington, DC, at Gay Games VI in Sydney, Australia, and at Gay Games VII held right here in Chicago during July 2006.

The Lakeside Pride Freedom Band color guard will begin rehearsing along with the band in April of 2010 for the spring and summer season. This is your chance to give it a twirl again and have a blast at parades. For more information contact our Freedom Band This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Ms. Zurcher holds a degree in Music Theory and Psychology from Lake Forest College. Her formal musical training began with piano at age six, followed later by voice, clarinet, and saxophone lessons. In addition to directing the Freedom Band, Ms. Zurcher served as assistant conductor of the Lakeside Pride Symphonic Band for two years, and recently directed Team Band during the Opening Ceremonies of Gay Games VII. She has arranged for and directed Artemis Singers, Chicago's Lesbian Feminist Chorus, and can periodically be seen around Chicago with Radical Nuances, an all female ensemble performing folk, jazz, blues, classical, and original works.