Brian McQueen

is an operatic bass and voice instructor residing in New York City. They have appeared with On Site Opera, Tapestry Opera, the New York Opera Festival, Trilogy Opera, Janiec Opera, and as a guest artist in concert with New Camerata Opera. Most recently, Brian was seen in the title role of The Swann, a new opera by composer Tamar-kali Brown with libretto by Carl Hancock Rux, presented in workshop at Harlem Stage. As a recitalist, Brian has toured Japan as Artist in Residence with the Tono International Arts Association and has served as Artist in Residence with ChaShaMa. They have presented in recital at Manchester Literary Festival, Poetry International in London, Poetry Press Week, and in concert with The Dream Unfinished at The Metropolitan Opera Guild. As an actor Brian has performed in Alexandro Segade’s Future St. at both the We’re Watching series (Bard College) as well as in the series Tip of Her Tongue (Broad Museum). They were also seen playing the role of Cleopatra in Here, Serpent (Dixon Place, NYC), a trans-gender liminal experimental theatre piece devised by both Brian and actor C. Bain. Brian returned to ChaShaMa as artist-in-residence for 2019-2020 season after their 2018 debut of their original performance piece We Wear the Masc, presented by ChaShaMa at Anita’s Way. Brian presented In Process: The Only Way is Through, a interdisciplinary and auto-biographical performance piece on experiences of self-acceptance and radical love through the lens of Black, Queer, Femme human being. As a voice instructor, Brian maintains a vibrant private voice studio based in New York City where they teach both in person and virtually. They are also a Teaching Artist with The Bronx Arts Ensemble, Lincoln Center, and is on the voice faculty The Harlem School of the Arts. Brian is a 2017 fellow with Emerging Leaders in New York Arts, a finalist in Opera Ebony’s 2021 Benjamin Matthews Voice Competition, and formerly served as Artistic Liaison for ChaShaMa. Brian is a fierce advocate for housing rights and the fight to end homelessness. They currently serve as Senior Ambassador for Hearts of Gold, a charity that works to transition unhoused mothers and their children off the streets & out of shelters into permanent housing in the New York City community. Brian is also teaches voice to foster children through Culture for One and is a team member at CBRTforEveryone.com, leading community workshops on education, intersectionality, activism, and more. They will return to Ontario this August to sing the role of Lucy in workshop of James Rolfe’s Caeneus, presented by ANIMA.