Queen Drea – “Born on the 4th of July”
Queen Drea is a sound alchemist, mixing sonic potions laced with looped vocals, jagged rhythms, and found sounds. Her project Born on the 4th of July is supported, in part, by American Composers Forum’s Recomposing America project.
Born on the 4th of July examines the impact of the Great Migration through the lens of Queen Drea’s mother, a Black woman born in Mississippi in the 1940s who migrated through Chicago to Minnesota. The project provides a unique and creative way to explore the history and experiences of a Black family who received their 40 acres and a mule, while also celebrating the rich culture and heritage of the American South. Born on the 4th of July will include a visual album in the form of an audio comic book, and a movie that is scored with original music.
World Premiere: Born on the 4th of July
July 25, 2026
Pillsbury House + Theater
Coverage of “Born on the 4th of July”
About Queen Drea
Queen Drea is a sound alchemist, mixing sonic potions laced with looped vocals, jagged rhythms, and found sounds. She has designed sonic worlds for Pillsbury House+Theatre, Penumbra Theater’, dance companies, BrotherHood Dance, and Ananya Dance Theater, international artist Jaamil Olawale Kosoko and other dance and theater artists and companies. Queen has created interdisciplinary work about depression in the Black community, African creator goddess Mawu and an exploration of what life comes From Black Wombs. Queen is a 2022 McKnight Composer Fellow, 2019 PH+T Naked Stages Fellow, 2019 Jerome Finalist, and 2017 ACF Emerging Composer awardee.
“I make worlds with my compositions. Glitchy vocals, guttural cries, scratchy sounds, ear-piercing ground loops, and off-kilter rhythms are what I do. Everything is intentional, yet improvisational in nature. If my compositions invoke visceral responses in the listener, then I’ve done my job.” – Queen Drea
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
American Composers Forum’s ACF | connect program is made possible with the outstanding generosity of the following individuals: Jane Anfinson, Thomas Arneson, Suzanne Asher, Carol Barnett, Pearl and Bob Bergad, Margee and Will Bracken, Karen Brooks, Richard Cisek and Kay Fredericks, Dee Ann and Kent Crossley, Julia W. Dayton, C. Lee Essrig, Rosemary & David Good Family Foundation, Katherine Goodale, Jeff and Hyun Mee Graves, Carol Heen, Steve Heitzeg and Gwen Pappas, Kathleen Henschel and John Dewes, Linda and Jack Hoeschler, Leaetta Hough and Bob Muschewske, Sam Hsu and Sally Cheng, Hella Mears Hueg Estate Gift, Thelma Hunter Estate Gift, John and Ruth Huss, George Frederick Jewett Foundation East, Art and Martha Kaemmer, Jon Lewis and Lisa Merklin, Mike and Kay McCarthy, Greg McNeely, Alfred and Ann Moore, Louis and Gloria Nuechterlein, John Nuechterlein and Dan Monson, John and Debbie Orenstein, I.A. O’Shaughnessy Foundation in memory of Thelma Hunter, David and Judy Ranheim, Denice Rippentrop, Vanessa Rose, Bill and Susan Sands, Gale Sharpe, Doug and Kathy Skor, Dan and Ellie Thomas, Stephen and Jayne Usery, Kathleen van Bergen, Janika Vandervelde, Jim Wafler, and Margaret and Angus Wurtele.