Dr. M Joseph Willette is a composer and educator whose work unabashedly centers queer spaces, culture, and community. Delicate timbres, rich sonorities, and driving club beats capture the intimacies, ecstasies, and tribulations of the human experience, and Joey (they/them) explores these themes in their eclectic catalogue that ranges from opera to the electro-acoustic avante garde and beyond. Recent projects include collaboration with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and No Divide KC on “Working Hard & Hardly Working”, an operetta exploring queer vulnerability (libretto by Luke “Skippy” Harbur).
Dr. Willette holds degrees in music composition and music education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Wichita State University, and Troy University. With a doctoral cognate in musicology, their additional interests lie in the intersection of drag performance and gender identity in music and performance. Joey is an amateur photographer, and is fond of poetry, scented candles, and a #4 from Taco Bell with a Baja Blast (no ice). They are an alumni member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.