David Bloom — Vision Statement for Queer Urban Orchestra

Hi friends! It has been such a thrill working with you. As someone who seeks queer artistic community, I feel a deep connection with QUO’s collective spirit and have loved witnessing it up close. The prospect of getting to make music with you all long-term is very exciting!

My own mission as a musician is to inspire creativity, empathy, and joy in artists and audiences alike. These are tenets that I would bring to my work as QUO’s Artistic Director, with particular focus on the following priorities:

First, I am committed to forging a genuine connection with you all and to facilitating deeper relationships among the members of the orchestra. When we develop durable connections, we’re able to express ourselves more freely, trust one another more deeply, and ultimately to build the orchestra’s musicianship. A QUO picnic or beach day can go a long way toward powering the dedicated, patient work that rehearsals require.

Second, I believe QUO can distinguish itself through diverse, thought-provoking programming that doesn’t take itself too seriously, including core classics, innovative new works, and great music by unjustly neglected composers. I am inspired by the idea of curating programs for you all and would be eager to incorporate orchestra members’ ideas and feedback in the process.

My third priority would be to increase the orchestra’s impact in the queer and music communities, enabling QUO to reach more people with its exceptional work. This could include collaborating with other LGBTQ+ community organizations on special projects; freshening QUO’s image with a new logo, a website revamp, and an active social media presence; and involving noted members of the queer community as hosts, soloists, composers, designers, etc.

Thank you for welcoming me so graciously for this concert and for considering me for this position. This is an exciting time for QUO, and I’m overjoyed to be a part of it!

David Bloom — 2023 Program Proposals

Winter: All the Stops
Ethel Smyth: Overture to The Wreckers (9’)
Claude Debussy, orch. Leopold Stokowski: La cathédral engloutie (8’)
Mazz Swift: Memory Two (15’) — East Coast premiere, with Mazz Swift, violin & voice
Camille Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3, “Organ” (36’)

Spring: What the Wildflowers Tell Me
Gustav Mahler, orch. Benjamin Britten: What the Wildflowers Tell Me (10’)
Caroline Shaw: And So (5’)
Samuel Barber: Knoxville, Summer of 1915 (15’)
Joanna Newsom, orch. Dylan Mattingly: Cosmia (10’)
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 (38’)

GayLa: Get On Your Feet — proposed 2-show evening (e.g. 7 pm & 9 pm)
Nina Shekhar: Turn Your Feet Around (9’) — choreographed orchestra with Gloria Estefan samples
* Gladys Knight, orch. David Bloom: Midnight Train to Georgia (5’)
* En Vogue, orch. David Bloom: Free Your Mind (5’)
* Tina Turner, orch. TBD: What’s Love Got To Do With It? (5’)
Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (23’)

* With American Sign Language choreography performed live by deaf and hearing queer performers from Up Until Now Collective’s SOUL(SIGNS) project.