About Queering the Pitch

For my upcoming performances of Queering the Pitch, I thought it was necessary to write program notes rather than try to explain my reasons for performing this music in words before the concert.  Here is what I've come up with:

I first thought of performing a recital of music by queer composers during the final year of my masters degree in Boston. I mentioned this thought to Rhonda Rider, my always-supportive teacher, and she casually suggested that I read Philip Brett’s musicological anthology, Queering the Pitch, which compiled articles dealing with the newly-emerging ‘queer musicology.’  I found the book to be an enlightening - though not life changing - good read, but as I often do when planning recital programs, I quietly tabled this project. 

When I moved to Georgia and began my doctoral studies, I decided to fully pursue my ‘gay recital’. At first, this project - which I originally envisioned as a series of recitals to include both existing and newly written works for solo cello, cello & soprano, and cello & piano - was entirely self-serving: not only had I found a relatively untouched subject matter suitable for my dissertation, but I also had musical material that would resonate within a community that is fiercely protective and profoundly responsive to it’s members’ contributions. In other words, I had a built in audience that could serve to further my career goals. 

As I began to perform this solo cello recital around the country, my self-centered attitude quickly melted away. Audience members - from elderly women to teenage men to middle-aged transgendered individuals - spoke to me about the benefits of celebrating queer composers. One west coast concertgoer called the project and my efforts, “incredibly brave,” while another described her deep connection to the music (which she said was, “unexpected, considering how recently this music was written!”) simply because the composers were members of “her” community. In short order I realized the good that I could do with this project. Instead of pursuing my ‘big break’ I should be helping to eliminate the deplorable prejudices that queer men and women still face. I began to have thoughts of changing the world with music, one audience member at a time.  

This project has become something personal to me, certainly more personal than the abstract and academic performances I had taken part in to this point. I find it hard to place in to words the emotion that I feel for this recital series. Members of the queer community exist in all walks of life and are prodigious contributors to humankind. The insufferable discrimination that many in the queer community face - from family members to Congressmen - for simply being who they are is unacceptable and can not be tolerated (we tolerate bad hair days; we love individuals). This project is my attempt to celebrate all the sweeping contributions that queer people offer the world and bring forth change that would eliminate hate and make this recital, with this title and subject matter, an irrelevant non-event.

Warmly,

Justin

PS - the bit about tolerance (hair days, and all) comes from Judy Shepard's fantastic book, The Meaning of Matthew, which should be a required read.