Performance Chatter: Performing Queerness

Special International PRIDE Day edition

How does queerness shape the way we perform? What does it mean to “perform queerness” — on stage and in daily life?
In this special PRIDE edition of Performance Chatter, River Adomeit will host a conversation with Splendor member Luke Deane and special guest Gabriel De Oliveira, exploring how identity influences their artistic and performance practices. The event concludes with a live performance inspired by the themes discussed.

More about River Adomeit:
River is a bassist and composer with roots in American songwriting traditions. Raised on everything from bluegrass mandolin to free improvisation, they approach music-making from a multidisciplinary perspective. As a trans artist, River is especially drawn to the intersections of identity and performance.

More about Luke Deane:
Luke — also known as Lisa — is a composer and vocalist dedicated to queering classical music and crafting catchy “earworms,” familiar to many from their work in theatre, dance, and as the alter-ego Lisa. Recently, Luke & Lisa have been focusing on music as a tool for emotional expression, particularly in exploring how song can help us articulate intense or extreme feelings.

More about Gabriel De Oliveira:
Gabriel de Oliveira is a songwriting improviser who works across guitar, voice, choreography, and cultural organizing. Over the past few years, they’ve moved between the Netherlands and Brazil, leading KB — a collective-label cultivating new globalized music scenes — and performing in projects such as Saturno Santos’ Something, qbae, and BRIGADERA. Their artistic vision blends the urban, the folkloric, and the mysterious, shaped through performances with Maracatu Leão Misterioso, Wendy Eisenberg, and Oscar Jan Hoogland.

Luke/Lisa Deane - voice, electronics
Gabriel De Oliveira - guitar
River Adomeit - bass