Queer Turquoise

Queer Turquoise (2022) is a piece with some subtle hints of a concept: that queerness is often akin to a kind of magic. Magic and magical imagery have always been a part of queer imagery and culture, whether in the adoption of the mythical fairy as a sort of mascot or through the witch trials of the Lavender Scare, or the witch-like powers of seduction gay man in particular were said to have had over the sons of suburbanites. The original pride flag even included a stripe which stood for magic: turquoise. Queer people have always found a keen way to take something ordinary, and by imparting their own brand of spell-casting, transfigure it into a thing that is new, spectacular, and compelling. The idea of this piece is meant to capture even just a bit of that glamour by surprise; sprinkled with hidden musical incantations and riddles, helping to craft a brew of queer tinted elixir that one may become intoxicated by.

Queer Turquoise was commissioned as part of the I Exist Project by saxophonist Nick May, to be a part of a multi- volume album of music for saxophone by queer composers.

Note: A version for single piano is also available.