Jeffrey Buhrman
Musical Director

Jeff Buhrman is in his sixth season as Artistic Director of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC. During his tenure the Chorus has performed in Carnegie Hall in New York, Symphony Hall in Boston and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. In December 2002 GMCW was featured at the Kennedy Center Honors, appearing in the CBS television special in which the Chorus sang a tribute to Elizabeth Taylor.

Under Jeff’s leadership the Chorus has grown to over 200 singers and has recorded four compact discs. GMCW’s 20th anniversary CD, I Dream of a Time, won the 2002 Washington Area Music Association’s WAMMIE award for outstanding choral recording. GMCW was also recently awarded the 2005 WAMMIE for best choral group. Consistently praised by local critics, GMCW was hailed as “one of the finest male choruses in the world” by a Washington Post critic. Another noted that “huge choruses often sound thick and ponderous, but conductor Jeff Buhrman educed a light, limber, beautifully balanced sonority that ebbed and shimmered, framing lyrics with coronas of color.”

Jeff began his association with GMCW directing the small ensemble Potomac Fever in 1988, a job he held for the next 10 seasons…in 2004 Jeff returned to directing the group. In 1989 he began an eight-year run as Assistant Director of GMCW, working with Music Director Jim Holloway. Jeff had the honor of directing GMCW at an inauguration concert for President Clinton in 1997.

Under Jeff’s direction, Potomac Fever has attained a wide following with its distinctive style, characterized by fluid phrasing and warmth of tone. One of two GMCW outreach ensembles, Potomac Fever has performed hundreds of concerts and fundraisers within the gay community and the community at large. Jeff led the group on a European tour highlighted by a performance at the opening ceremony of the European Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses festival in Munich.

A lifelong musician, Jeff holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education and voice from Montclair State University and a Master’s degree from George Washington University. In addition, he studied voice with Marden Bate, conducting with David Randolph and received additional training in voice with Walter Blazer of the Manhattan School of Music. He has performed with such preeminent choral conductors as Robert Shaw, Roger Wagner, David Randolph and Dennis Keene. Jeff will be directing the festival chorus at the first annual Outgames 2006 in Montreal this July.