Joseph Shapiro

Joseph A. Shapiro has been part of the LGBTQ+ choral movement for 29 years, beginning with the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus in 1997. Currently a performing member of the Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus, Joseph has sung with eight GALA choruses, which also include the New Jersey Gay Men’s Chorus, Perfect Harmony (Madison, WI), SVGMC (Silicon Valley), the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus, the Harrisburg Gay Men’s Chorus, and the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.  He has served on the Board of two of these choruses.  

In addition to a professional career as a Director of Administration for law firms, Joseph is a writer, publishing memoirs as well as lyrics for choral pieces for the LGBTQ+ community. He has an MFA in creative writing from Hunter College, where he taught expository writing and introduced the first course at any NYC university focused on transgender literature. His work has been presented at numerous writers’ workshops, including Tin House, The Kenyon Writers Workshop, Disquiet International (in Lisbon), and Love Comes in at the Eye (in Ireland). He is a fellow of the Lambda Literary Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Authors.  

His civil rights anthem, “Don’t Take It for Granted,” with music by Holly Near and arranged by J. David Moore, was recently published by Hal Leonard.  He lives in Des Moines, Iowa, with his dog, Arnold.