Simon Christian, co-founder of QVIA (Queer Voices in Art), tell us about Hidden Voices: Queer Voices in Exchange which runs next month at the Voila! Festival.
“We all know their names, we know their music, but so little is known about the queer lives they lived.
Who was the man on Britten’s side? What was really going on at the ‘Schubertiaden’? To whom did Chopin dedicate one of his famous waltzes? Was Tchaikovsky really in love with his nephew? Who broke Francis Poulenc’s heart? How did the fierce lesbian Ethel Smyth make her mark in this male dominated world?
Hidden Voices answers all these questions and gives you a rare insight into the hidden (love) lives of these celebrated musical geniuses.”
Where: The Space
When: 13-14 Nov
Ticket link: https://www.voilafestival.co.uk/events/hidden-voices-queer-artists-in-exchange/
Tell me a bit about your show. Where did the idea come from?
Neelam [Brader, co-founder of QVIA] and I have been friends since we were seven years old and it just so happens that we both went into the performing arts.
Last Christmas we met for a catch up and lamented the struggles we face as freelance artists, chasing jobs that are often not creatively fulfilling.
We thought, why not put something together ourselves that would combine our skills, her being a classical singer and me being an actor.
We’re also both queer and so we thought, let’s find a story that involves all those things.
Neelam had done a project on Austrian composer Franz Schubert before, and although no one can prove this, it is widely believed that he was queer.
I did some research and stumbled upon a podcast about Frederic Chopin and realised their stories are quite similar, both unmarried, both writing extensively to their ‘close friends’.
After some further research, we settled on the six composers Schubert, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Smyth, Poulenc and Britten.
There are of course more, especially queer women, but sadly none of their letters have survived, let alone been published.
After carefully selecting letters, diary entries and other personal writings and of course the songs, Hidden Voices was born.
We were lucky to get Judith Valerie Engel onboard, a musicologist and PhD candidate from the University of Oxford, who also happens to be a fantastic pianist.
Why should audiences choose your show? How would you sell it in one sentence?
Queerness has always existed, yet often people had to hide their true identities behind coded messages or express it in some other form, in our case through music.
We want to shine a light on six musical geniuses, whose queerness has been straight-washed or ignored for decades or even centuries.
But we also want to make classical music and history accessible and hope to bring a new audience in.
If I had to sum it up in one sentence, I would say: Expect secret lovers, scandalous affairs, melancholic homosexuals and the true inspiration behind some of the greatest works of classical music
What does being part of the Voila! Festival mean to you?
We’re a very young collective (QVIA was founded only this year) and being part of such a well established festival is a wonderful opportunities.
Voila! provides a great platform, especially for us Europeans from the continent. And our show reflects this, Schubert being Austrian, Chopin Polish-French, Tchaikovsky Russian, Poulenc French and Smyth & Britten being English.
It doesn’t get more European than that and you can hear all those languages in the show (although the majority of the spoken words are in English).
How did you make a start in the industry?
Neelam and I have been in the industry for over a decade, we’re both classically trained.
She studied at the renowned Mozarteum in Salzburg and I trained at the Guildford School of Acting in the UK.
We’re both very driven and have a great work ethic, so we really enjoy working together, which isn’t always a given among friends.
But in all seriousness, it does take a lot of resilience and perseverance to make your mark in this industry and joining forces with other like-minded artists definitely helps.
What’s next for the show?
After Voila! we’re taking the show to Berlin, to perform at the Austrian Cultural Forum there (December 16th). We’re also in talks with a venue in Copenhagen, Luxembourg and even the US.
Our hope and aim is to take Hidden Voices around the globe and spread queer visibility and joy!