"Failing is something queers do and have always done exceptionally well; for queers failure can be a style... or a way of life... and it can stand in contrast to the grim scenarios of success that depend upon 'trying and trying again.' In fact, if success requires so much effort, then maybe failure is easier in the long run and offers different rewards." -Judith Halberstam, Queer Art of Failure

Premiered April 2024 at the Ann E. Pitzer Center at the University of California, Davis by Nick May as part of the I Exist Project.

jouissance, or learning to let go

Trey Makler (he/him) is a queer composer based in Sacramento whose music blends memory with cultural theory to produce moving narratives filled with playfulness and longing. His work spans chamber, orchestral, operatic, dance, and electronic media, and he frequently produces substantial interdisciplinary work from the ground up with his trusted collaborators.

Trey’s music has been heard across the United States and Brazil, and has been performed by Alarm Will Sound, Berlin PianoPercussion, ultra-soprano Emily Thorner, Empyrean Ensemble, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, The Great Noise Ensemble, The Juilliard Orchestra, Magela Herrera Quartet, PinkNoise, Mizzou New Music Initiative, NEO Sound Orchestra, Splinter Reeds, the University of Missouri Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Workshop, and members of the St. Louis Symphony. Trey has received commissions from Camellia Symphony, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, the New York Choreographic Institute, saxophonist Nick May and the I Exist Project, and Vallejo Symphony. Notable presenting venues have included Alice Tully Hall, Areté Venue and Gallery, the Empress Theatre, the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, National Sawdust, Sheldon Concert Hall, and the Jewel Box in Forest Park (St. Louis), among others. 

Trey has been the recipient of several top honors in composition, including the Arthur Friedman Prize in Orchestral Composition (The Juilliard School), the Sinquefield Prize (University of Missouri), and was selected as the winner of the first annual Boston New Music Initiative Young Composers Competition. His scholarly and creative research has been supported by the Bilinski Educational Foundation, the New Music USA Creator Fund Award, and the Sacramento Creative Growth Fellowship.

Trey is a Lecturer in Music at the University of California, Davis and California State University - Sacramento. He holds degrees from The University of California, Davis (PhD ‘24), The Juilliard School (MM ‘19), and the University of Missouri (BM ‘17). His recent site-specific immersive chamber opera, Waiting Rooms, originally staged at the Sacramento Gender Health Center, explores our relationship to memory and absence through the cultural materials and experiences of AIDS.

jouissance, or learning to let go

Trey Anthony Makler