ChamberQUEER 2024: Constellation
Tuesday, June 11 through Sunday, June 16 at MITU580
580 Sackett Street Unit A - Ground Floor - Brooklyn NY 11217
Tickets on Sale Now!
ChamberQUEER is thrilled to present ChamberQUEER 2024: Constellation, our 2024 Pride Month celebration of queer community, diversity, and excellence in chamber music! Featuring multiple live performances and workshops every day, Constellation runs Tuesday, June 11 through Sunday, June 16 at MITU580, with additional community events at nearby coffee shops and bars.
ChamberQUEER 2024: Constellation is our sixth annual and biggest-ever festival; this year’s Fringe-style format highlights a diverse variety of queer artists from around the world in engaging, innovative concert programs and community events, including family-friendly, sensory-friendly, and free events, providing a platform & community for queer artists and audiences alike during Pride month.
A full outline of programming and artists, including descriptions of planned presentations & community events and ticketing information, is below. Doors for all events will open a half hour prior to showtime. In alignment with our mission, no one will be turned away due to lack of funds; if you’re in a tough spot financially, email hello@chamberqueer.org and we’ll help you out!
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and in partnership with the City Council.
Tuesday, June 11
1:00 PM - Sound Bath with Bloom Sound Collective
Tickets Available Here
Bloom Sound Collective is a community of musicians and sound healing artists that create safe and supportive spaces for sonic exploration and self-discovery through sound baths and immersive concerts. Since its founding in 2022, the Collective has worked with renowned collaborators in New York City including the World Trade Center, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Choral Chameleon, Sound Mind Live, Yvette Vexta, and Spirituality Week NYC. Bloom's signature "choral sound bath" molds vocal repertoire with traditional sound healing instruments and has been produced across the city and the greater northeast — bringing sound meditation to new audiences through innovative and first-of-its-kind programming.
5:30 PM - big dog little dog
TICKETS available here
big dog little dog is the mind-melding duo project of violinist/composer Jessie Montgomery and bassist/songwriter Eleonore Oppenheim. Their music has been described many ways, but perhaps the most apt so far has been “post-minimalist groove americana.” The pair use an improvisational composition technique that draws on many genres and their experience as native New Yorkers to create lush, cinematic soundscapes that are by turns sweeping and achingly intimate.Their work is both a deep dive into the meditative space of the interior and an exploration of our place as humans in the natural world.
This event will be livestreamed.
7:30 PM - Project [T]: A Mixtape
Tickets available here
Project [T]: A Mixtape is the first artistic iteration of a new project from Canadian duo Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (they/them), opera singer and theater creator, and David Eliakis (he/him), piano. The concert will be the premiere of Kasahara's 5-year autobiographical account of their professional career and personal life as they document their transition in real time. Kasahara was assigned female at birth and identifies as a trans(masculine) non-binary person.
Throughout the past two decades their voice has been classified as a high-voiced “treble” singer or soubrette, lyric coloratura soprano, and dramatic soprano, and with these categorizations they have endured the weight of stereotypical feminine gender expectations associated with these voice types and the roles they have been cast to play (ex. The Queen of the Night, Lucia di Lammermoor, Madama Butterfly, etc). Kasahara will reflect on their gender and musical journey thus far: the voice that has led them to this moment of transition in their life, the music that has shaped who they are, and to look ahead to what is to come. Repertoire for A Mixtape will include songs by Handel, Puccini, Purcell, Medtner, Mozart, Schubert and Verdi; American composers Barber, Blitzstein, Rorem, Copland, and Sondheim; and Canadian composers Ian Cusson and Leslie Uyeda. For more on Project [T], follow @projecttdoc or visit www.projecttdoc.com.
This event will be livestreamed.
Wednesday, June 12
10:30 AM - InfraSound & ChamberQUEER
Tickets Availalbe Here
Dancing to the Music of You is a multidisciplinary collaboration between a team of queer NYC-based artists and organizations including InfraSound, ChamberQUEER, and sound designer Alex Gray. Through improvisation, lighting, sound, and spatial design, and musical composition, Dancing explores life and work as a queer artist, how we conceptualize queerness through fashion, posture, and movement, and how we build community around our shared experience of queer embodiment. Curated works from ChamberQUEER and InfraSound will be performed throughout the morning, activating the space. The event will also incorporate the whole complement of artists welcoming the audience into an extended improvisation, culminating in a celebratory synthesis of artistic mediums.
2:00 PM - Free offsite community event TBA
6:00 PM - Eric Umble and Tori Cheah
Tickets available here
Eric Umble and Tori Cheah present a long-duration piece for clarinet and electronics installed in the theater that will foster a welcoming communal space and allow audiences a meditative, come-and-go-as-you-are experience. The evening will evolve into a disco dance party DJ’ed by Eric beginning around 8:30 PM.
This event will be livestreamed until the beginning of the dance party.
Thursday, June 13
10:30 AM - Elly Kace: Yoga Session/Sound Bath
Tickets AvailabLe Here
Elly Kace is a certified sound healing/yoga/meditation facilitator and singer based in Brooklyn, NY. Kace will offer an intuitively based energy work and sound healing session rooted in ancient yogic practices with a focus on radical self acceptance. She also writes indie pop incorporating sound healing instruments and intentions as a tool for her students in their self practice, which can be found on all streaming platforms and will be incorporated into her session.
2:00 PM - Luna Composition Lab Open Workshop
Free EVEnt - Reservations Available Here
As part of a new collaboration between ChamberQUEER and Luna Composition Lab, a roster of CQ players will workshop commissions from LCL alumni Lili M. Namazi (2022–23) and Sage Shurman (2019–20) and a new arrangement by Devon Lee (2020-21) in preparation for performances of these new works in fall 2024. CQ musicians will then moderate a Q&A/talkback with the composers and audience.
This event will be livestreamed.
This partnership is made possible through the support of the New York Community Trust.
5:30 Pm - CQ Co-Founders Concert
Tickets Available Here
Three of the co-founders of ChamberQUEER - Jules Biber, cello; Danielle Buonaiuto, soprano; and Brian Mummert, baritone - will perform sets exploring and expanding the range of what is considered “chamber music.” Mummert’s set will explore the porous boundaries between art song, popular music, and jazz, with a particular focus on queer writers from across these genres. As Duo Calisto, Biber & Buonaiuto perform works by queer composers for soprano and cello, and bring their own take to some beloved queer anthems. The event is rounded out by trio and quartet performances from the whole group.
This event will be livestreamed,
7:30 PM - Amir Farsi, flute & Maxwell Foster, piano
Tickets Available Here
In a nation as diverse as America, where the very definition of "American" continues to expand, what does American classical music truly sound like? Amir Farsi presents a recital in collaboration with Maxwell Foster examining that question by showcasing works by queer and POC composers, as well as composers who have immigrated to the United States. Join Farsi and Foster to explore the rich tapestry of voices that have shaped, and continue to shape, the ever-evolving American sound.
This event will be livestreamed.
Friday, June 14
2:00 PM - Free offsite community event TBA
5:30 - Coady Green, piano
Tickets available here
Internationally-award-winning concert pianist Coady Green presents a kaleidoscopic and joyous exploration of works by a diverse group of queer living composers. Aside from the evocative, nuanced etudes of Nico Muhly, this program is a celebration and promotion of music from Green’s native Australia, with nearly all the works on the program being US premieres. Featuring Elizabeth van Os on Meta Cohen’s Delphi Songs, the concert also includes premieres by James Rushford and Bryn Renard, along with other repertoire from Green’s years-long history of commissioning new works.
This event will be livestreamed.
7:30 PM - Parker Ramsay, Harp
Tickets available here
Acclaimed harpist Parker Ramsay presents an evening of new works for harp and electronics by Lucy McKnight, Janet Sit, and Kennedy Dixon - all created specifically for him. This concert will be performed in three sets, with mingling and drinks between pieces, in an elevated cabaret atmosphere.
This event will be livestreamed.
Saturday, June 15
10:30 AM - Songwriting Workshop with JL Marlor
Tickets Available Here
Ever wanted to write your own song? Join indie-rock front person and composer JL Marlor for an interactive hands-on workshop that will have you composing, writing, and performing your own original song. Designed for people ages 7 and up (including adults!) No instrument skills necessary, but bring an instrument if you play one. For those who do not want to play, we encourage bringing a laptop or tablet to begin making and exploring sounds. JL Marlor will be joined by Kasey Blezinger to flesh out any of your songs with guitar and percussion.
1:00 PM - Community Sight-reading Party
Free - Reservations Available Here
Bring your instrument, some sheet music you’d like to play through, and an adventurous spirit to ChamberQUEER’s Community Sightreading Party! Musicians of all abilities and instruments/vocal ranges are welcome; at our last party, we had baritones singing cello lines, violinists & flutists playing soprano duets, and much more. If you’re a composer, feel free to bring along one of your own scores - we’ll try to read through as much music as we can (though FYI the crowd is likely to be string player & singer-heavy).
3:00 PM - Free offsite community event TBA
5:30 PM - Kebra-Seyoun Charles: Enby
Tickets available Here
Kebra-Seyoun Charles joins forces with dancer-choreographer Kobe Atwood Courtney and a team of dancers to present a workshop performance of their new evening-length ballet, Enby. This performance will incorporate choreography created live in the room, and will also include several movements from the full work and other music by Charles.
7:30 PM - Outcalls: Release the gowns
Tickets available here
Release the Gowns is a theatrical variety show written by Outcalls and featuring brand-new music from their record Greatest Hits, vol. 1. Celebrate the journey of Britt Olson-Ecker and Melissa Wimbish's friendship, bandleading partnership, and their continuing survival of the patriarchy, spanning over a decade of collaboration. Directed by Genevieve de Mahy of Single Carrot Theatre and joined by an all-star band, Release the Gowns will leave you heavy breathing.
Sunday, June 16
10:30 AM - Chamber Music for Kids of All ages
Free - Reservations available here
Join us for a musical adventure exploring the colorful world of chamber music! Kids of all ages and their caregivers are welcome to listen, move, make art and ask questions as a string trio led by CQ co-founder Jules Biber plays a range of music that explores the wide variety of sounds, colors and moods produced by a small ensemble. Enjoy this engaging musical “conversation” in a kid-friendly, exploratory atmosphere.
1:00 PM - CircleSinging With Matt Goldstein
Tickets Available here
Gaia Music Collective’s CircleSinging sessions are warm, welcoming spaces for spontaneous group singing, led with joy, passion, and kindness by founder Matt Goldstein. CircleSinging is a vocal jam session, sung by all of us and led by a facilitator in the middle of the circle who invents parts, teaches improvised harmonies, and shapes the music as we flow from meditative moments to vibrant dance parties to heartfelt anthems and everything in between! Circle Singing is done all over the world in many different forms, and, while popularized by musical legends such as Bobby McFerrin and Rhiannon of WeBe3, it dates back to the earliest forms of human singing. No need to be a professional singer: his playful, intuitive approach to singing meets you wherever you are in your vocal journey, and allows professional artists, former choir kids, and shower singers alike to bond, collaborate, & create beautiful vocal music as a spontaneous vocal community.
3:00 PM - Free offsite community event TBA
5:30 PM - Closing Night Celebration
Tickets Available Here
We’re closing out Constellation with a bang! First, Ringdown (Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee) will play a set of their irresistible “electronic cinematic pop”; then, after a celebratory champagne toast, Thalea String Quartet will perform CQ co-founder Andrew Yee’s new String Quartet, premiered by Thalea earlier this year. Yee will then take the stage to perform and facilitate an evening of her music; expect special guests, lots of cross-pollination, and a heck of a good time.