When the Driftwood Quintet approached me in late 2015 to write for an event benefitting a local Arizona LGBTQ youth charity, I enthusiastically agreed to work on the project. As an LGBTQ person, I thought this would be a great way to express some of the experiences I’ve had in the LGBTQ community and give back to that community in which I was an active participant.
When I was coming out as gay, I was lucky and privileged to have several supportive communities around me: my family, my friends, and my school. Needless to say, not everyone has that privilege. Regardless of whether or not you have a supportive community around you, coming out feels like you are the odd piece out of a jigsaw puzzle; it can be hard to see how you fit into and navigate this heteronormative world.
When you finally find your place in that puzzle, it’s a wonderful, glorious feeling: to belong, to be cared for, and to be loved. On its deepest level, “Jigsaw” is equally about finding community as it is about finding yourself.
You can purchase the score for Jigsaw from Trevco Music Publishing.