LibGuides: Diversity in Classical Music: LGBTQ+

Explore Repertoire

LGBTQ+ Composers

Here are just a few of many LGBTQ+ composers. Click to see a list of their music in our library.

Superscript letters = Source identifying the person as LGBTQ+. See list of sources below.

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) ^GMO
Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) ^GMO
Henry Cowell (1897-1965) ^GMO
Samuel Barber (1910-1981) ^PUL
John Cage (1912-1992) ^GMO2
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) ^GMO
Lou Harrison (1917-2003) ^GMO

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) ^GMO
Charles Wuorinen (1938-2020) ^PUL
Wendy Carlos (b. 1939) ^GMO
Julius Eastman (1940-1990) ^GMO
Meredith Monk (b. 1942) ^KIL
Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962)^LAC
Nico Muhly (b. 1981) ^EP

Sources
EP: Ellis-Petersen. "Nico Muhly Takes on Alan Turing."
GMO: Grove Music Online. Search composer's name to read their biography.
GMO2: Grove Music Online, entry on Gay and Lesbian Music
KIL: Killacky. "Meredith Monk's Moving Installations."
LAC: Lesbian American Composers CD
PUL: Pulitzer.org. "From February House to the State House."

Discover More Composers

Use the resources below to discover other LGBTQ+ composers. Then, search their name in our catalog to find their music in the library.

If we don't own a piece you want, search for it in WorldCat and click "ILL this with ILLiad" to borrow a copy from another library. Or, contact Tracey Rudnick (rudnick@hartford.edu, 860.768.4404) to suggest we buy a copy.

Repertoire Guides Online

Various Instrumentation

Boulanger Initiative Database
Over 8,000 works by women and gender-marginalized composers.
The Composers Equity Project
List of women, gender non-conforming, and ALAANA composers.
Institute for Composer Diversity
Research resources plus databases of composers and works searchable by genre, ensemble, and composers' demographic information.

Specific Instruments/Groups

Catalog of Trumpet Works by Gender-Marginalized People and/or Black, Indigenous, or Persons of Color
An extensive list of works for trumpet solo and in ensemble. Use the tabs at the top to navigate between different sections.
No Broken Links
Solo and chamber repertoire for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, and horn. Focuses on work by BIPOC, women, transgender, & gender non-conforming individuals.
A Seat at the Piano
Piano works from over 200 composers of diverse backgrounds and identities. Searchable by nationality and other keywords.
Underrepresented Composer Database (Viola)
Over 1500 solo and chamber works for viola by underrepresented composers. Also accepts submissions for new works to add.
Wind Repertory Project
A comprehensive database of wind literature. Browse by solo instrument, ensemble, or composer category.

Anthologies in the Library

NewMusicShelf Anthology of New Music by Aiden Feltkamp (Curator)
Call Number: M1619 N485 T/NB V1 [Allen shelves]
Publication Date: 2021
21 vocal works for trans and nonbinary voices, from the 21st century. Every song has a composer or lyricist who is trans or nonbinary, or was composed for or premiered by a trans or nonbinary singer.

Research

Books (selections)

Honoring Trans and Gender-Expansive Students in Music Education by Matthew L. Garrett; Joshua Palkki
Call Number: MT1 G37 2021 [Allen shelves]
Encourages music educators to honor gender diversity through ethically and pedagogically sound practices.
The Oxford Handbook of Music and Queerness by Fred Everett Maus, Sheila Whiteley (Editors)
Call Number: ML3797.4 O935 2022 [Allen shelves]
Brings together many musical topics and scholarly disciplines, reflecting different rhetorics of queer musicology.
Queer Episodes in Music and Modern Identity by Sophie Fuller, Lloyd Whitesell (Editors)
Call Number: ML63 F85 Q84 [Allen shelves]
Publication Date: 2002
Explores music and queerness in Europe and the U. S. from 1870 to 1950, through the stories of composers, scholars, performers, and more.
Singing Out by Heather MacLachlan
Call Number: ML3918 P67 M33 2020 [Allen shelves]
Studies GALA choruses seeking to change society by encouraging acceptance of LGBT-identified people and promoting diversity more generally.

Find more books about LGBTQ+ people in music

Click to see new LGBTQ+ books in the Allen Library

Search subjects in the catalog:
Gay composers
Gay musicians
Gender identity in music
Homosexuality and music
Homosexuality in music
Queer musicology
Sex in music
Sex role in music
Transgender musicians
Transgender ... (other subjects, limited to Allen Library materials)

...or search specific names, for example:
Benjamin Britten
John Cage
Meredith Monk
Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky

Music Reference Databases

Grove/Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
Music encyclopedia with works lists and citations. Search a particular person's name or terms such as "queer,", "sexuality," etc. See especially entries on Gay and Lesbian Music or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Music in the United States
Oxford Bibliographies - Music This link opens in a new window
Citation lists on many music subjects and people. See especially entries on Queer Musicology or Gender and Sexuality in Music.

Online Resources

Digital Transgender Archive
A free, online hub for transgender research, with digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings.

Journal articles

Search one of the following databases for specific names, work titles, or keywords such as gay, lesbian, sexuality, gender identity, etc.

Music Index Online This link opens in a new window
Article citations from over 700 music journals.
Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
Article citations from over 400 music journals.
RILM This link opens in a new window
Citations for scholarly music and dance books, articles, dissertations, and more.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles from almost 100 scholarly music, dance, and theatre journals, plus other subjects. Excludes recent years.

Support an Organization

Organizations

ChamberQUEER
Co-produces events to amplify the work of queer artists in classical music.
GALA Choruses
Leads the North American LGBTQ choral movement with networking, training, and sustainability.
Project Spectrum
A graduate student-led coalition committed to increasing DEIA in music theory, musicology, and ethnomusicology.