It’s described as a “look back at the last century of popular music with the queer lens intact,” and it’s coming to New Westminster.
Toronto’s Queer Songbook Orchestra is coming to the Anvil Centre Theatre with Songs of Resilience, set for Thursday, Jan. 28 at 8 p.m.
The orchestra is an 11-piece ensemble of musicians dedicated to acknowledging the contributions of LGBTQ artists, “shedding light on revelations such as the contradiction of a public which adores the art but shuns the artists,” a press release notes.
The evening is a combination of music and storytelling that examines resilience in song through the courage of the songwriter. New Westminster performers Vance McFadyen and Valen Oliver will provide narration.
The audience can expect to be taken on a 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.
This show gives voice to artists through the years by commissioning new interpretations of their material from many top composers and arrangers, and presenting the songs alongside narratives.
It will offer up 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 $20 and $30, plus service charges, available through www.ticketsnw.ca.
You can find out more about the show at www.anvilcentre.com.
