ABOUT

The Queer Songbook Orchestra (QSO) hold the belief that stories and songs are powerful communicators and carry within them the potential to increase awareness and understanding through the scope of 2SLGBTQ+ experience, thereby fostering dialogue and nurturing deeper community. We extend this vital practise of listening to our Black, Indigenous, Asian and other racialized communities and are committed to the principles of anti-racism, and working towards a just, equitable and accessible society for everyone.

“Sensational...a superb pop ensemble” - NOW Magazine

The QSO is a 14-piece professional chamber pop ensemble dedicated to utilizing story and song to express, honour and elevate 2SLGBTQ+ experience, while providing opportunities for mentorship and other supports to queer, trans, questioning and allied youth. Founded in 2014 by Artistic Director Shaun Brodie, the QSO has toured extensively throughout Canada and worked with 200+ collaborators to bring 2SLGBTQ+ experience to centre stage. We have been featured at many of the country's top performing arts festivals, and in 2018 undertook a nationwide tour which saw us perform in small to mid sized cities from Whitehorse, YK, to St. John’s, N.L. Among the extensive list of past collaborators of the QSO are Carole Pope, Cris Derksen, James Baley, Orville Peck, Beverly Glenn Copeland, Jeremy Dutcher, Francesca Ekwuyasi, Rae Spoon, Syrus Marcus Ware, Casey Mecija, Lorraine Segato, Allie X, Wayson Choy, Mark Tewksbury, Vivek Shraya, Leah Fay, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Gary Beals and many, many more musicians, writers, theatre artists, high school students, elders and other members and allies of the community.

The Queer Songbook Orchestra are based on Dish with One Spoon territory, the traditional home of the Anishnaabe, Haudenosaunee, Wendat and Mississaugas of the Credit. We are witness to the ongoing revelations of violence and trauma inflicted on Indigenous communities by settler populations across Turtle Island, and the injustices that persist to this day. We uphold the principles of mutual recognition, mutual respect and shared responsibility as settlers on Indigenous land.