Help us finish the release of The Journey!

Greetings beautiful people! I need your help to finish the release of our debut album, The Journey, featuring new music for flute and piano by LGBTQIA+ composers.

The origin story of The Journey:

In May of 2021, I began the creation of The Journey. I was inspired to create this album to commission living composers who identify as LGBTQIA+ when the National Flute Association released their list of flute repertoire by minority groups, and the LGBTQIA+ category was the least represented. Additionally, the pieces on the list were not music telling the stories about our community, they just happened to be by composers who identified as LGBTQIA+.

Why does the story or subject of a piece matter?

As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community and a professional flutist, I always struggled with the fact that all of the music and standard repertoire I studied and performed my entire life told the stories of heterosexual cisgendered people. As an artist, I have learned to be like an actor to do my best to become the characters asked for by the composers. Still, I couldn't help but feel how much more of my musical voice I could express to my audiences if I was telling musical stories that I could see myself in for once.

How and why did you select the pieces for this album?

I put out an international call for scores from composers who identify as LGBTQIA+. The pieces were selected blindly (composer names were hidden) on artistic merit. The selected composers represent a diverse group of our community from around the world. Their pieces tell stories of love, joy, heartbreak, pain, and perseverance. They are all pieces that I selected because I instantly connected with them and felt the composers portrayed their stories through music so beautifully. I have to admit that after I finalized the pieces and read the stories about each piece, it brought me to tears to hear an entire program that I connected with. I knew at this moment that this would make a significant impact to so many others.

Where is the money being used?

To cover the commissioning fees for the six composers.

To cover the recording studio and recording engineer fees.

To cover the cost of manufacturing the first 100 physical copies of the album.

To cover the cost of distributing the music on digital platforms and register the music online.

Andrea and I have volunteered our time and performing of these works for the album and do not expect to be paid.

When do you hope to release the album?

We hope to meet our goal and release the album this month, June 2022, to celebrate Pride month!

Can I pre-order the album?

Yes! You can pre-order the physical or digital album here. All pre-orders help us towards our $6,000 goal as well. I will post updates on how many albums have been pre-ordered on this campaign as well!

Can you tell us more about the composers and the pieces?

Yes! I will be interviewing the composers and posting those videos on this campaign and on social media, so be sure to check back to hear all about them!