Queen of the Night with Thorgy Thor: Holiday Extravaganza
WQXR LIVE
Originally Aired: Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Overview
*Also streaming LIVE here! Visit this page on 12/20 to access.
WQXR presents drag performance artist and violinist Thorgy Thor! Come enjoy an evening of laughter, music, and campy fun as we kick off the holidays! Featuring seasonal carols from the Young New Yorkers Chorus, and performances by cellist Joshua Roman, mezzo-soprano Briana Hunter, and comedian Zach Zimmerman, with beer tastings courtesy of Copper Son Brewing Company.
If you’re a fan of Thorgy Thor, we may entice you to fall in love with classical music. And if you’re a fan of WQXR and classical music, come see a show that will break all of the standard concert protocols!
Thorgy Thor
Credit: Photo provided by Artist
Guest host Thorgy Thor is an NYC based drag performance artist, professional musician and TV host. She was a contestant on the Emmy Award-winning show RuPaul’s Drag Race and has appeared in Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, VICE, WWHL with Andy Cohen, and is a cast member of Dragnificent! on TLC/Hulu. She is a multi instrumentalist, playing violin, viola and cello in Thorgy and the Thorchestra! She’s done shows with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra.
Briana Hunter
Credit: Photo provided by Artist
Briana Hunter has been hailed by Opera News as “a mesmerizing mezzo-soprano with a fiery theatrical presence and dynamic vocalism.” Hunter made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones. She will be performing in the Met’s upcoming production of Carmen. Ms. Hunter’s 2022/2023 season began with her Los Angeles Opera debut as Katie Ellen in Omar by Michael Abels and Rhiannon Giddens.
An accomplished stage actress, Ms. Hunter has worked with Tony and Academy Award-winning playwright Mark Medoff in a production of his play Gunfighter–A Gulf War Chronicle. Under the direction of the Royal Shakespeare Company, she developed and starred in an original double bill titled Infinite Variety/For Every Passion Something, which had a two-week run at the Fringe Festival in Scotland. Briana is a current member of WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab and has created several podcasts available at wqxr.org.
Joshua Roman
Credit: Photo provided by Artist
Cellist Joshua Roman has been praised by the New York Times for his “effortlessly expressive tone… and playful zest for exploration.” Committed to bringing Classical music to new audiences, Roman opened the acclaimed 2017 TED Conference, and his performance of the complete Bach Solo Cello Suites after the 2016 U.S. Presidential election was the most-viewed event in the history of TED’s social channels, with nearly a million live viewers.
Roman has collaborated with world-class artists across genres and disciplines, including Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, DJ Spooky, Tony-winner/MacArthur Genius Bill T. Jones, Grammy Award-winning East African vocalist Somi, and Tony Award-nominated actor Anna Deavere Smith.
Zach Zimmerman
Credit: Photo provided by Artist
Zach Zimmerman is a stand-up comedian who’s written for The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Popula, Vulture, The Washington Post, and more. Zach’s debut essay collection Is It Hot in Here? (Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth?) was published by Chronicle Books and optioned for TV development by Sony Pictures. It was named a “Best Book of 2023 (So Far)” by Barnes & Noble, a “Best LGBT Book of 2023 (So Far)” by Esquire, and featured on the Amazon “Read with Pride” billboard as well as in countless podcasts, print and digital interviews.
As a stand-up, Zach’s first comedy album “Clean Comedy,” debuted on the Billboard Top 10 and inspired a critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and New York Comedy Festival. Zach’s viral TikTok and Instagram clips have led to coverage in Out, USA Today, and Zach was named a 2023 Vulture Comedian You Should and Will Know. Zach lives in Brooklyn.
