About Us
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Study Group is a recognized special interest group of the American Musicological Society. Our objectives include increasing awareness of sexuality and music in the academy, promoting contact among music scholars working in LGBTQ studies, and establishing a forum for the presentation of such research. We also intend to provide an environment in which to examine the process of coming out in academia, and to contribute to a positive political climate for affirmative action and LGBTQ curricula.
We convene annually at the national meeting of the AMS and host an evening session and party. These sessions include invited guest speakers and cutting-edge graduate student research. Each year we present the Philip Brett Award which honors exceptional work in LGBTQ music studies.
Join us for the 2026 AMS Annual Meeting Online!
AMS LGBTQ Study Group Business Meeting
Sunday, November 14, 2026 | 4:00-5:30pm ET | Zoom Meeting Room 2
This business meeting will share updates on the LGBTQ Study Group and offer a space for a collective conversation about ways to support queer music scholars. Please join us if you are curious about what we do, want to connect with others who teach or research queer music, want to build community with other LGBTQ+ scholars, or are looking for impactful opportunities to support our communities!
Trans Musical Activism: A Conversation with CN Lester
Thursday, November 19, 2026 | 10:00-11:30am ET | Zoom Session Room 4
*This event is free and open to the public with completion of the AMS Public Attendee Registration Form!*
CN Lester is a London-based multi-genre musician and composer, trans feminist activist, and scholar of gender, sexuality, and music, with a focus on Barbara Strozzi. This event will feature Lester in conversation with Vanessa Tonelli, Assistant Professor at The University of Southern Mississippi, whose work centers on gender, disability studies, and early modern music.
As a musician, CN Lester is a mezzo-soprano/alto specializing in early and contemporary opera and song, and an alternative piano-based singer-songwriter. They are the founder and artistic director of the annual arts event Transpose at Barbican–one of many initiatives they lead to celebrate UK trans creatives and communities. Their widely popular 2018 essay collection Trans Like Me, which explores trans lived experiences and dominant narratives, continues to be impactful in our current moment of widespread anti-trans sentiments and legislation. Lester’s interdisciplinary research on Barbara Strozzi was recently published in Barbara Strozzi in Context through Cambridge University Press. While working on a new hybrid opera/spoken word/electronic soundscape interpretation of Frankenstein this year, they are also preparing a forthcoming original opera on Strozzi titled The Unknown Goddess.
Lester and Tonelli, in partnership with other members of the AMS LGBTQ Study Group, will discuss the intersections among Lester’s wide-ranging musical and activist work, as well as what it means to pursue queer music studies and platform trans artists in a time when queer and trans academics and musicians face increasing precarity.
