For more than twenty years the schwuler männerchor zürich (schmaz) has been delighting, surprising, touching and irritating its audience. Schmaz stands for high level amateur choral singing, for musical as well as scenic versatility; it has always represented gay interests as well. Since August 2011 Ernst Buscagne has been conducting the choir. He took over the baton from Karl Scheuber, who co-founded the choir, conducted it for 21 years and had a decisive influence on it. Schmaz sings both a capella as well as to piano or orchestral accompaniment. Regular full-length in-house productions are organised with renowned directors and choreographers.