Queer Urban Orchestra began as a small collective of mostly queer musicians performing with improvised instrumentation and has grown into a steady regional ensemble. The group provides a dedicated musical space centered on queerness, community, and safety, emerging from members who branched off from larger marching ensembles to fill an orchestral gap. The orchestra marks its 16th season under the theme "A Place for Us," invoking Stephen Sondheim to emphasize belonging and the need for community amid a hostile political climate. Leadership calls the ensemble one of the few dedicated queer orchestras in the nation.
"We didn't have a bass player, so we had a tubist that was playing all the bass parts on his tuba," said Brian Shaw, who performed in the group's first concert in December of 2009 and now serves as the general manager of the Queer Urban Orchestra. "You know, we sat in that church and we were proud to be performing what we were performing."
Nearly 16 years ago, a scrappy group of mostly queer musicians banded together on a stage with whatever instruments they could muster and delivered a debut performance - one that would ultimately mark the arrival of the Queer Urban Orchestra in New York City.
Today, the Queer Urban Orchestra is preparing to embark on its 16th season, having blossomed into a steady musical group with a unique place in the region's musical landscape: According to its leadership, the group stands as the northeast's first and only dedicated queer orchestra, and one of the few of its kind in the nation.
"And here we are 15 years later," said Shaw, who said the Queer Urban Orchestra was "born out of a need for a safe space for people to come together and make music."
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