Piano Lunaire presents Composers In Play XVI: Sounding the Queer Canon on May 15, a concert that looks to recast and reflect on the identities of Queer artists in the classical music realm. The program focuses on unearthing little known composers, and celebrating the history of Queer artists and their contributions to the art music of the20th and 21st centuries. Is there a Queer musical canon?
Piano Lunaire, based in both New York City and Toronto, is a contemporary classical music organization that looks to present art music in a contemporary mode.
The Program
Mezzo-soprano Claire McMahan, baritone Nathaniel Sullivan and pianist Adam Sherkin will perform an eclectic program of new music.
- Caroline Shaw: How do I find you? (2018) for mezzo-soprano and piano
- David Del Tredici: Three Baritone Songs (1999): No. 3, “Matthew Sheperd; text by Jaime Manrique
- Eve Beglarian: Farther From the Heart (2026) for voice and piano
- Chris DeBlasio: All the way through the Evening (1990) for baritone and piano; text by Perry Brass — Canadian Premiere
- Annika Socolofsky: Who am I to Say? (2018) for mezzo and violin
- Adam Sherkin: Caretaker of Dreams for baritone and piano; text by Fan Wu — World Premiere; Piano Lunaire commission
- Michael Genese: MeditatIon for Sphere of influence (2022) for solo piano/electronics — Canadian Premiere
- Michael Genese: The Boy with Baleen for Teeth (2023) for mezzo, baritone and piano; text by Rajiv Mohabir — Canadian Premiere
Composers
American composer Chris DeBlasio was based in New York City. One of his compositions, Walt Whitman in 1989, is part of the AIDS Quilt Songbook. In contrast with much of the atonal music of the era, his compositions were influenced by musical theatre, and included art songs, and sacred music. He died at age 34 in 1993 of HIV/AIDS.
A Pulitzer Prize winner and Guggenheim and Woodrow Wilson fellow, David Del Tredici was a pioneer of the neo-romantic moment, and was once described in the press as, “one of our most flamboyant outsider composers”. He composed works for Michael Tilson Thomas and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, and died at age 86 in 2023.
The remaining composers on the program are living Canadians and Americans.
Eve Beglarian (b. 1958) is a composer, performer, and audio producer. Her music, which is frequently described as post minimalist, includes chamber, orchestral, and choral work, and has been widely performed and commissioned by individual artists, and organizations such as The Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and The American Composers Orchestra, among others. Her work was recognized with a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Robert Rauschenberg Award in 2015.
Caroline Shaw (b. 1982) is a composer, violinist and singer. Her a cappella piece Partita for 8 Voices won a Pulitzer Prize in 2013, and has won two GRAMMY Awards — one in 2022 for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her piece Narrow Sea, and in 2025 for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for her composition Rectangles and Circumstance.
Annika Socolofsky is a composer and avant folk vocalist, and her work includes orchestral and operatic compositions, as well a cappella folk songs. Her music is based on the voice, and she often explores unusual tones and colours, including techniques and sounds not typically used in classical music. With a PhD in Composition from Princeton University, she is Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Adam Sherkin is a graduate of the Glenn Gould School, where he studied piano and earned a Bachelor of Music degree. He premiered his first composition in 2005 via the Buffalo Philharmonic student symposium. After graduating from the Glenn Gould School, he made his way to the UK, where he studied at the Royal College of Music in London via the Dorothy Isabella Webb Trust Scholarship. He completed his Master of Music degree there in 2022, and has since made his home in both New York City and Toronto.
Michael Genese is a composer, educator, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with their busy practice teaching violin, piano and voice lessons in New York City, Genese is an Artist Ambassador with the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU). He also helped design the K-12 Music Keyword Equity Database, the New Bedford Symphony’s resource for music educators,.
- Find concert details and tickets [HERE].
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