Gay4Nature Collective
Gay4Nature Collective produces live and filmed inter-disciplinary musical arts projects from a queer and ecological lens.
A peek at what we do
About Gay4Nature Collective
Alex Chen and Anna Bigland-Pritchard
Gay4Nature Collective Biography:
Gay4Nature Collective is a creative music collective dedicated to the amplification of queer joy, connection, and advocacy for nature at the intersection of sound, movement, and drama. Drawing on tools like Western classical music, contemporary dance, theatre, and film, founders Anna Bigland-Pritchard and Alex Chen assemble teams of innovative artists to grapple with experiences of climate crisis, queer love, friendship, and finding a way forward in a fraught modern world.
What we do:
We create interdisciplinary performances that draw from genres such as Western classical music, contemporary dance, film, and theatre to illustrate dynamic themes around queerness, connection, & nature.
We have a film (Green), offer live performances in Victoria BC, and host community-building musical events such as our Classical Singer Open Mic Nights.
May 2024:
Bach's The Coffee Cantata was toured around Victoria coffee shops.
With financial support from the City of Victoria, we toured four unique venues to perform our original production of Bach's coffee-themed musical about being true to yourself, and caffeine, "The Coffee Cantata." Directed and costumed by Loretto Espinoza, our production is energizing, delicious, and oh so joyful - like a shot of espresso in auditory form. 🌈
Cast and Crew:
Tim Carter: Narrator/Lawyer
Alex Chen: Schlendrian
Anna Bigland-Pritchard: Lizzy
Perri Lo: Music Director and Pianist
Loretto Espinoza: Director, props and costumes.
Initial tour venues and supporters
Oak Bay United Church
The Victoria Music Strategy was created to support local musical initiatives as well as downtown businesses. We are so grateful that our project was chosen!
Future plans
We hope to find further funding and tour our production of Bach's Coffee Cantata around the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island.
We also hope to sell and rent our production to other indie companies and schools that want an innovative, relevant, and fun production appropriate for touring and University programs.
Watch this space and our social media for updates!
If you'd like to donate to Gay4Nature, please send us a note and e-transfer to gay4naturecollective [at] gmail [dot] com
Oct 2024 Update: Project being submitted to Film Festivals
"Green": visual album concept film set to Debussy's song cycle, Ariettes oubliées
This exciting new project exists to highlight the intersection of queerness, nature, & art song through a series of audio-visual content of Debussy’s Ariettes oubliées. Exploring contemporary filmmaking and music video practices, intermodal arts, and experimental approaches to mixing "nature sounds" into classical music, we will present classical vocal music in an interesting and easily accessible format.
The dream team!
Anna Bigland-Pritchard: soprano, co-director, marketing
Alex Chen: collaborative pianist, co-director, administration
Kelly Conlin: Cinematographer
Wynn Gogol: Audio engineering, mixing and mastering
Angelica Schwartz: Co-Director, Dramaturg
Jami Reimer: Sound Artist
Claire Saunders: Choreographer, dancer
Loreto Espinoza: Actor
We are currently applying to film festivals and have already won a few awards in festivals around the world! Watch this space and our social media for updates!
Thank you to Canada Council for the Arts for funding this project!
