The audience at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra will be a mixture of classical music and drag fans.
It’s a contrast that drag star Thorgy Thor knows all too well from her collaborations with orchestras – or, as she refers to them, Thorchestras. Speaking from her home in Brooklyn with Morning Light host Nolan Kehler, she says it’s something she loves to address.
“It's now become my responsibility to ask the audience, ‘How many of you bought a ticket tonight because you love drag and you saw me on RuPaul's Drag Race?’, and it's usually about half the audience. And then I say, ‘OK, stop, stop. How many of you have season tickets to the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and you have no idea who I am?’ And it's the other half. And I say, ‘Look to your left and to your right. This is a show that you may not ever sit next to this kind of demographic than any other kind of show.’”
Listen to Nolan's full conversation with Thorgy Thor here!
A conservatory-trained violinist and former concertmaster, Thorgy Thor has been performing in drag with symphony orchestras across North America since 2018. She has collaborated with Toronto conductor Daniel Bartholomew Poyser on shows that have seen her perform with the likes of the San Francisco Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. Her latest concert, Music and Fashion with Thorgy Thor, sees her performing in period costumes as she takes audiences on an educational musical journey that spans centuries, performing works by composer that range from J.S. Bach and Henry Purcell to Lady Gaga and Beyonce.
This blend of music is intentionally crafted to appeal to both the classical music and drag audiences that come see Thorgy Thor, and she feels the responsibility to put on the best show for everyone. “We have to kind of reach out to the younger generation who may not be just playing classic, but we have to have a reason for them to buy a ticket and put their butts in seats and keep funding coming to these wonderful institutions.”
While that responsibility is a large one and comes with some pressures amid challenging economic realities for orchestras in North America – Thorgy Thor notes that some orchestras she’s performed with have shuttered – she also says that drag has helped to shoulder that pressure. “I've always said this - drag is like putting on armor. It's uncomfortable, but it's also like putting on armor. This is why I love drag so much. There's something else in your confidence that comes out when you're dressed up as a character. And I think it goes hand in hand with the confidence of commanding an audience when you're in this costume, it allows you to become another version of yourself a more powerful version."
“It’s so amazing and powerful that I get to combine both worlds.”
Thorgy Thor hopes that this power will radiate beyond her performance here in Winnipeg to encourage more people to be a part of symphony audiences in the future. “Hopefully in some small way, word trickles to friends of friends of friends and they come to the next show because they love classical music and now they fell in love with the glamour and the elegance of drag costuming.”
That glamour and elegance takes the stage at the Centennial Concert Hall on Saturday, November 23 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets and more information can be found at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s website.
