
WXXI News
Opera has always been inextricably linked to the experience of LGBTQ+ people.
From its beginnings in the Renaissance and Baroque traditions and the use of castrati to the important operas of gay composers Tchaikovsky, Poulenc, and Britten, to the increased visibility of transgender opera singers such as Lucia Lucas and Holden Madagame, the relationship between opera and queer identity is an intimate and complicated one.
Guest host Daniel Kushner delves into this relationship — and what opera can tell us about the LGBTQ+ community — in conversation with two prominent opera artists.
- Anthony Roth Costanzo, Metropolitan Opera star and Glimmerglass Festival artist-in-residence
- Ricky Ian Gordon, composer and previous Eastman Opera Theatre collaborator