Pages from my diary: navigating queer experience and narrative through contemporary flute repertoire

Musicological research and performance in queer music is a fairly new research topic in musical studies. While there have been queer composers and musicians for centuries, the dedicated study to this community of artists has only been around for a little over three decades. Since its inception, queer musicology, or musicology focused on LGBTQIA+ artists, has focused primarily on the existent literature from major composers such as Tchaikovsky, Britten, Poulenc, and more. The main output from these composers that is researched are songs, ballets, operas, and other vocal works. Outside of popular music genres, little work has been done on discussing queerness and telling queer stories through contemporary music, much of which relies solely on the music to do the story telling. This collection of music, while contemporary in nature, is compiled of abstract and absolute music, some defined by queer experiences, and some connected after the music was written.

This recording project is focused on producing a high-quality audio recording of eight works for flute that are centered around queerness and the experiences many of us have in the LGBTQIA+ community. These works, written between 1989 and 2025, encapsulate a variety of experiences and stories that queer people embody, such as: coming out late in life and questioning one’s own “queerness”, the relationship between one’s culture, religion, and queer identity, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the legacy of Harvey Milk.

This album, to be released by PARMA Recordings in 2026, is a collection of contemporary music written for solo flute, flute and piano, flute ensemble with piano, and flute, alto flute, and piano trio and is the first commercially released album dedicated to queer narrative in music. The composers featured on this album are Dominic Valadez, Michael Seyfrit, Catherine Winters Boyack, Yoshi Weinberg, William Linthicum-Blackhorse, Matthew-John Knights, Lee Gannon, and Zachery Meier, each sharing a different story that relates to many queer people across the globe. Pages From My Diary, an album recorded by Joshua Stine, celebrates these stories through the recording and sharing of these contemporary flute works.