It is possible that what we are experiencing today is a shift in the paradigm of the relationship between biological sex, gender, and sexuality just like the shift from the one-sex model proposed by Galen in 2nd century through to the two-sex model of the Enlightenment Period. Just as there were queer, non-binary, and gender-fluid individuals and performers in the past, are there queer, non-binary, gender-fluid, and transexual individuals contributing to the music performance universe in the 20th and 21st centuries. For instance, Wenday Carlos, an American electronic musician who transitioned from male to female in 1972. Her credits include composing filmscores Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and The Shining but her greatest contribution to the classical music world was her album Switched-on Bach from 1968 which introduced J.S. Bach to a new generation of listeners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsW2EDGbDqg
The contemporary Classical music genre has seen a few queer and transexual figures making their mark in their respective communities, countries, or around the world.
Japanese-Canadian soprano Teiya Kasahara is a queer and trans non-binary creator-performer based in Toronto, Canada. They have an extensive list of accomplishments and distinguished engagements singing in both traditional and contemporary opera.
Within their own artistic practice, Teiya explores the intersections of gender, sexuality, and race using elements of opera, theater, and electronics, as both creator and performer, noted in their first original work "The Queen In Me" which had its world premiere in June 2022 at the Canadian Opera Company (co-produced by the COC, Amplified Opera, Nightwood Theatre, Theatre Gargantua).
https://www.teiyakasahara.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S_Z3Dtweok
Image Credit: www.teiyakashara.com
Holden Madagame is a Native American queer and trans tenor. Unlike the previously two mentioned artists, Holden chose hormone therapy as part of his transition. Originally a mezzo-soprano, Holden was accepted at the Glyndebourne Academy, a program aimed at providing access for personally, geographically, or financially challenged young singers, to retrain his voice as a tenor.
I came out as trans about four years ago [2013], after moving to Berlin. As a third of the world’s opera is in Germany, I had had the plan to move there in the back of my mind for several years. Just after moving, I was depressed, dysphoric (uncomfortable in my body as a trans person), and couldn't sing a note without sobbing and ending up on the floor in a puddle.
I had been resisting coming out because I knew that I wanted to take testosterone, and had researched the effects of testosterone on the singing voice. There wasn't much information at the time, but the conclusion was basically this: don't take testosterone; you will never vocally recover enough to have a professional career.
