The Queer Songbook Orchestra brings their unique stylings to the stage at the Ladysmith Little Theatre on Saturday, June 23, starting at 7:30 p.m.
The show had originally been scheduled for the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre.
Formed in 2014, the Queer Songbook Orchestra is a 12-piece chamber pop ensemble of queer and allied musicians, dedicated to exploring the LGBTQ2S backstories and personal narratives in the last century of popular music.
Since inception, they have been invited to perform across Canada, earning high praise for their unique mission and original approach.
The QSO got their start in 2014 at the now defunct Videofag, in Toronto’s Kensington Market, and have gone on to play many of the top performing arts festivals throughout Canada, including Luminato (Toronto), High Performance Rodeo (Calgary), PuSh (Vancouver), and Canada Scene (National Arts Centre).
They have been part of Buddies in Bad Times “Queer Pride” programming for the past four years, have been in residence at the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity, and been featured on the CBC program Q.
The Queer Songbook Orchestra members are: Shaun Brodie, artistic director/trumpet/flugelhorn; Alanna Stuart, vocals; Alex Samaras, vocals; Stephen Jackman-Torkoff, storyteller/poet; Jennifer Burford, violin; Evan Lamberton, cello; Lief Mosbaugh, oboe/English horn/vocals; Micajah Sturgess, French horn; Thom Gill, guitar/vocals; Dan Fortin, double bass; and Stefan Schneider, drums/percussion.
Their performances look back at popular music through a queer lens.
With a combination of music and storytelling, the QSO makes note that the public adores the art but shuns the artists.
The show also examines resilience in song through the courage of brave songwriters. The audience can expect to be taken on a musical and narrative journey through the past hundred years of popular music — a time during which the lives of many queer artists were lived in a hush-hush fashion.
On June 15, 2018, the QSO are releasing their new album Anthems and Icons, and Valley concertgoers will be some of the first in Canada to hear music from their new album live.
In addition to music from their latest release, the performance will also feature a host of recognizable songs such as Lesley Gore’s ‘You Don’t Own’ Me, k.d. lang’s ‘Constant Craving’, Joe Meek’s ‘Telstar’, Bronski Beat’s ‘Smalltown Boy’, and work by Elton John, Billy Strayhorn, Ani Difranco and more.
Tickets are $28 each, with eyeGO seats available for students at $5 apiece. Ask at the ticket centre about them at the Cowichan Ticket Centre.
Tickets will also be available to purchase at Ladysmith Little Theatre’s box office from 6:30 p.m. to showtime on June 23.
Others, reserve by phone 250-748-7529 or online at cowichanpac.ca as well as checking in at the centre.
