Composers Reeta Loi, Michael Wolters and Maya-Leigh Rosenwasser share their music and thoughts exploring queerness in music. What does it mean to be a queer composer today, and is there such a thing as queer music?  

From the playful to the divine, we listen to a drag character lost in space, gender-bending tracks, and work that plays with failure as a creative starting point. Join our CEO Susanna Eastburn MBE and composer/researcher Ruari Paterson-Achenbach for a unique insight into composing. 

Our recommendation at the end is for the creative collective the mermaid café (Joanna Ward and Ruari Paterson-Achenbach) 

In this episode, you listened to the following music and sounds: 

Reeta Loi 

• Unki Yaad (2018), from Ek EP 
• Founder (unreleased) by Reeta Loi 
• Taken (unreleased), by Reeta Loi and James Perera – to be released in Autumn 2021

Michael Wolters 

• ‘Aria Cuntata and the Black Holes (2020), conceived by Michael Wolters and performed by Michael Wolters and Paul Norman 
• Queer Concerto for Nine Saxophones (2020), performed by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra and Saxophone Department, conducted by Barry Wordsworth 

Maya-Leigh Rosenwasser 

• Bibliography and smash bros (2020), by flxnflx, a lockdown collaboration between Maya-Leigh and James McIlwrath 
• Attack (2018), by Equinox, which is Maya-Leigh Rosenwasser, Taner Kemirtlek and George Kypridemos 

This podcast was produced by Michael Umney (Resonance FM) and mixed by Chris Bartholomew, with the theme tune composed by Rob Bentall.  

Our heartfelt thanks to the record labels, performers, composers and organisations who allowed us to include excerpts of these recordings on the podcast.