Classical Pride: The world’s biggest celebration of LGBTQIA+ classical music is back
Drag Race icon Thorgy Thor and conductor Oliver Zeffman reflect on the impact of Classical Pride and the making of the campest event yet.
WORDS BY ALICE MOREY Have you heard of Caroline Shaw? What about Leonard Bernstein or Tchaikovsky? These are just some of the LGBTQIA+ performers and composers on the classical music scene, both now and historically.
Classical Pride, back for its second year, is the first of its kind celebration of the best LGBTQIA+ talent and artistry across classical music. “Classical Pride last year was the very first time that any major orchestra or any major concert hall anywhere in Europe had celebrated Pride, which just seemed so long overdue,” Oliver Zeffman, Founder and Artistic Director, tells GAY TIMES. “Tchaikovsky, for example, was writing music nearly 200 years ago – a long time before Kim Petras or Troye Sivan.
This is queer music too and we should be not just acknowledging this, but celebrating it.” The opportunity to champion the rich and expansive history of queer classical music was a driving force in expanding the event to be a five-day festival extravaganza.
