We Wear the Masc
Brian McQueen

We Wear the Masc is a performance piece that explores the intersectionality of being black, femme & queer in the 21st Century through the mediums of art song, verse, poetry. The piece explores masculinity as a plurality not solely performed in manner.

Brian McQueen’s bass-baritone juxtaposed with their femme identity & performance beckons a broadening of the conversation surrounding black effeminacy; most specifically as a male-bodied person. McQueen reassigns classic poetic text of songs from standard recital repertoire to comment on gender identity, the serviceability of gender, gender performance, race, as well as creating space & visibility as an act of human being with non-binary identification as lens.

The piece includes original verse by McQueen & selected poems from Shayla Lawson’s I Think I am Ready to See Frank Ocean with piano accompaniment by Hohyeon Kyung.

About Brian McQueen
Brian McQueen is a bass-baritone residing in New York City. They have appeared with the Lyric Opera Theatre of Arizona State University, the Manchester Literary Festival, Poetry International, The Metropolitan Opera Guild, and Trilogy: An Opera Company. As a recitalist, they have served as Artist in Residence at the Tohno International Arts Association, touring six cities in Japan, and was featured at Dowling International Center’s Noon Concert.

Brian holds a BA in Music from the University of South Carolina, an MM in Voice from Miami University of Ohio, and is an alumnus of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. They are a 2016/17 ELNYA fellow and was most recently seen acting in the role of Cleopatra in C. Bain’s Here, Serpent in NYC.

For more information, please visit Brian’s website at www.briancmcqueen.com, or contact them at brian.mcqueen@icloud.com They may be followed on Instagram.

About Hohyeon Kyung
Born in Seoul, Hohyeon Kyung is a contemporary and traditional classical music composer based in New York City. He has been making his unique career as a collaborative pianist and conductor during his composition studies, while also communicating with various musicians. Mr. Kyung received his Bachelors of Arts degree in music from Yonsei University, where he also studied composition with Sung-Hyun Yun. Mr. Kyung also holds a Masters degree from the Manhattan School of Music in composition under the tutelage of Reiko Fueting, and a Professional Studies degree from the Manhattan School of Music in Collaborative Piano under the tutelage of Kenneth Merrill. Currently, he is a staff pianist at the Manhattan School of Music and an organist at the Korean United Presbyterian Church.