Ideas for 2SLGBTQIA+ Resources
Jeremy Dutcher’s Mehcinut Wəlastəkwewiyik means “People of the Beautiful River,” a people also called the Maliseet, who always lived along what is now called the St. John River. Jeremy Dutcher is a Two-Spirit Wəlastək composer and tenor who has been promoting his people’s language in traditional songs he has reinterpreted for modern times. In this evocative video for Mehcinut (“Death Chant”), Jeremy presents a “Table of Indigenous Excellence,” featuring cultural leaders, activists, artists, and filmmakers who are leaders in their fields. Jeremy’s performance of this song began conversations about what Indigenous sacred music can be performed publicly – an ongoing discussion between members of Indigenous communities across Turtle Island.
Jonathon Adams & Les Voix Humaines: Strike the Viol (Henry Purcell)(video, 2:27) Jonathon Adams (they), a Two-Spirit, nêhiyaw michif (Cree-Métis) baritone, is claiming historical European music for themselves in a political-artistic coup. They have also been reviving 17th-century Métis and Cree songs (collected by musicologists during earlier colonial times) with the help of an Indigenous circle. Click here for an example
Tapestry Opera’s Queerated Opera Series Is A Fresh Way to Start Your Toronto Pride (few-minute read, optional videos) Article by Matthew Timmermans presenting Canadian soprano Teiya Kasahara’s Queer of the Night, in which she does not settle for the binds of heteronormative opera performance; Queers Crash the Opera, curated by pianist David Eliakis and featuring Teiya Kasahara, tenor Derek Kwan, mezzo-soprano Catherin Carew, and bass Alain Coulombe; and Cocktails with Maria Toilette, cabaret songs composed by tenor Isaiah Bell around lyrics from interviews of members of the Gutter Opera Collective (baritone Joel Klein, pianist Karen Lee-Morlang, Kristina Lemieux, Bell, and designer Myles Laphen, and their friends).
15 Queer Composers You Should Know (few-minute read) Can you imagine a world without the music of Handel, Tchaikovsky, or Britten? These great composers of the past are just a few of many important musical figures who did not identify as heterosexual. This list confirms the centrality of 2SLGBTQIA+ people to the compositional pantheon.
