QUEERTRONICA
7pm -12am
A night dedicated to Wendy Carlos
Screening of Wendy (2023) by Frances Scott and Chu-Li Shewring
Live music from Celyn of Gwent and Keziah
This event celebrates Wendy Carlos and the profound influence of trans and queer artists on the history of electronic music. A trailblazing composer and synthesist, Wendy Carlos not only transformed how electronic music was made and heard, but also stands as one of the first openly trans figures to shape popular culture through sound. Her work opened new sonic and cultural possibilities, demonstrating how technology could become a space for self-definition, transformation, and freedom.
Positioning Carlos within a broader lineage, the event highlights trans, queer, and gender-nonconforming pioneers whose contributions have often been overlooked or marginalised. Daphne Oram’s radical approaches to electronic composition and her rejection of traditional musical hierarchies laid vital groundwork for experimental sound. Laurie Anderson’s multimedia performances blurred boundaries between music, art, storytelling, and identity, while SOPHIE’s visionary production forged a future-facing electronic language that explicitly embraced trans embodiment, fluidity, and resistance.
The programme unfolds as a journey through electronic music’s past, present, and future. A DJ set traces key moments in electronic sound through a trans and queer lens, mapping how these artists used machines to reimagine identity and challenge normative structures. A screening of Wendy (2023) offers a moment of reflection, and live performances from Celyn of Gwent and Keziah bring these histories into dialogue with the present—honouring legacies while asserting their ongoing relevance.
‘Wendy’ is a film response to the work of composer, electronic music innovator and polymath, Wendy Carlos. The work orbits a duet rehearsal for four hands on one piano. Together, Frances Scott and Chu-Li Shewring learn to play ‘Timesteps’, transcribed from the original score composed by Wendy Carlos, first imagined for Anthony Burgess’ book, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1962), and later realised for the soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film adaptation. Wendy Carlos describes herself as ‘The Original Synth’, and in this spirit, ‘Wendy’ channels the unbounded voice in composition and transition. ‘Wendy’ is a work of translation and homage, but also of collaboration, fandom and friendship, and of sonic synthesis as a form of being.