COMPOSE
QUEER X
QUEER
STORIES
COMPOSE QUEER is a multiple-year-long collaboration between Coady Green and Divisi ensemble. The project is an initiative to bring queer storytelling into the classical music canon. It commissions queer-identifying composers to write stories that relate to their experiences and bring these stories to community. Initially starting with 4 commissions, Divisi and Coady have now commissioned 16 works under this banner.
The original iteration of COMPOSE QUEER commissioned composers Ariel Bonnell, Lore Burns, Robert McIntyre and Meta Cohen to create works for Divisi and Coady.
These works were recorded as part of Spectrum - the first queer classical music album in Australia. You can listen to previews of these works below:
The latest iteration of COMPOSE QUEER was a collaboration with Maeve Marsiden and Queerstories. Twelve queer composers drew inspiration from twelve queer writers to produce an anthology of completely new work.
This concert featured compositions by Sia Ahmad, Lucy Blomfield, Gabi Cadenhead, Connor D’Netto, Olivia Diamant, Leila Harris, Lillian Hearne, Cameron Lam, Caerwen Martin, James Rushford, Alex Turley and Sally Whitwell.
The pieces drew inspiration from stories by Liz Duck-Chong, Teddy Dunn, HANDSOME, Dmetri Kakmi, Paul Kidd, Fiona Kelly McGregor, Tommy Misa, Bastian Fox Phelan, Fletcher Quilty and Omar Sakr.
COMMISSIONED WORKS
Are you the New Person Drawn Towards Me – Ariel Bonnell, 2020
Here Is a Safe Place – Lore Burns, 2020
Syrup and Silicone – Robert McIntyre and Savanna Wegman (text), 2020
(I)dentity – Meta Cohen, 2020
*This Story – Lillian M. Hearne, Liz Duck-Chong, 2024
*How I Got Laid At My Boyfriends Funeral – Caerwen Martin, Paul Kidd, 2024
*To See, And Be Seen – Cameron Lam, Fletcher Quilty, 2024
*A History of Suits, VI. Birthday Suit – Alex Turley, Teddy Dunn, 2024
*Honeymoon Phase – Sia Ahmad, Omar Sakr, 2024
*Love You, I Do – Lucy Blomfield, Joe Levitt, 2024
*Your Grief Is My Grief – Gabi Cadenhead, Tommy Misa, 2024
*Stove Photography – Connor D’Netto, Bastian Fox Phelan, 2024
*I Would Rather Be – James Rushford, Dmetri Kakmi, 2024
*Of Porn, Parties, and The Perils of Censorship – Sally Whitwell, Fiona McGregor, 2024
*Mind Explosions of Memories – Olivia Diamant, HANDSOME
*Commissioned alongside Maeve Marsiden’s Queerstories with support from City of Melbourne, Creative Australia, APRA-AMCOS, and Wear it Purple Day
‘At a time when the world is becoming an increasingly uncertain place, Compose Queer x Queerstories comes with a sense of celebration and affirmation.
This was an astonishing virtuosic display on the part of Divisi singers and a moving celebration of LGBTQI+ creative talent. Don’t miss it!’
-Heather Leviston, Classic Melbourne