photo: Devon Fails
New York City-based musician, producer, activist, and administrator, Loki Karuna has been noted as not only a "classical agitator," but also "a Black talent in public media that you may not know, but should." In 2021, The New York Times named his podcast, TRILLOQUY, as a standout and one that is "required listening," maintaining a top-10 spot among classical music podcasts globally. Loki is a recipient of the Sphinx Organization's MPower Artist Grants for his work in broadcast and digital media, and was named among Musical America's "Top 30 Arts Professionals of the Year" for 2024.
Nationally syndicated radio programming and series created by Loki include "The Sound of 13," "Noteworthy," "Gateways Radio," and "The Sounds of Kwanzaa", with partners including WUOT-FM, American Public Media, KVNO-FM, WFMT-FM, and WDAV-FM. Away from the airwaves, Loki offers guest lectures, presentations, and equity training at the intersections of race, culture, Black liberation, and classical music, with past collaborators including the Gateways Music Festival, the Sphinx Organization, the Kennedy Center, the Apollo Theater, Black Music Experience, the Minnesota Music Teachers Association, New Music Gathering, and the MacPhail Center for Music. Recent college, university, and conservatory guest lecture partners include Yale University, the Manhattan School of Music, Freie Universität Berlin, the Peabody Institute, Cornell University, the University of Memphis, the University of Southern California, and the University of Minnesota, Duluth.
Loki (formerly Garrett McQueen) began his career as an orchestral bassoonist, performing with ensembles including the South Arkansas Symphony, Jackson (TN) Symphony, American Youth Symphony, Memphis Repertory Orchestra, the Eroica Ensemble, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the Southeast Symphony, the Artosphere and Gateways Festival Orchestras, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. With a desire to "decolonize" classical music in the United States, he later transitioned away from the performance stage and into digital and broadcast media, being heard as a radio and podcast host across all 50 states and in over 100 countries.
Loki's written work includes contributions to the "Future/Present" and "From Our Eyes and Ears" anthologies, both exploring stories and techniques on reshaping arts ecosystems. Upcoming publications include an addition to a new work highlighting intersections between arts activism and science fiction (scheduled for summer 2025), and a collection of transcribed dialogues from the TRILLOQUY podcast.
Nationally syndicated radio programming and series created by Loki include "The Sound of 13," "Noteworthy," "Gateways Radio," and "The Sounds of Kwanzaa", with partners including WUOT-FM, American Public Media, KVNO-FM, WFMT-FM, and WDAV-FM. Away from the airwaves, Loki offers guest lectures, presentations, and equity training at the intersections of race, culture, Black liberation, and classical music, with past collaborators including the Gateways Music Festival, the Sphinx Organization, the Kennedy Center, the Apollo Theater, Black Music Experience, the Minnesota Music Teachers Association, New Music Gathering, and the MacPhail Center for Music. Recent college, university, and conservatory guest lecture partners include Yale University, the Manhattan School of Music, Freie Universität Berlin, the Peabody Institute, Cornell University, the University of Memphis, the University of Southern California, and the University of Minnesota, Duluth.
Loki (formerly Garrett McQueen) began his career as an orchestral bassoonist, performing with ensembles including the South Arkansas Symphony, Jackson (TN) Symphony, American Youth Symphony, Memphis Repertory Orchestra, the Eroica Ensemble, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the Southeast Symphony, the Artosphere and Gateways Festival Orchestras, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. With a desire to "decolonize" classical music in the United States, he later transitioned away from the performance stage and into digital and broadcast media, being heard as a radio and podcast host across all 50 states and in over 100 countries.
Loki's written work includes contributions to the "Future/Present" and "From Our Eyes and Ears" anthologies, both exploring stories and techniques on reshaping arts ecosystems. Upcoming publications include an addition to a new work highlighting intersections between arts activism and science fiction (scheduled for summer 2025), and a collection of transcribed dialogues from the TRILLOQUY podcast.
Loki holds a Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance from the University of Memphis, where he studied with Lecolion Washington, and a Master of Music in Bassoon Performance from the University of Southern California, where he studied with Judith Farmer. He continues to work as a performing bassoonist and narrator, in addition to serving as the Executive Producer and host of the TRILLOQUY podcast, President of TrillWerks Media, and the Director of Artist Equity for the American Composers Orchestra. Loki will assume the role of Executive Director of the American Composers Forum in June 2025.
Loki serves on the board of directors of Lyrica Baroque, the Lakes Area Music Festival, Decolonizing the Music Room, and the Cedar Cultural Center, and maintains leadership and artistic advisory positions with the Black Opera Alliance and the Gateways Music Festival.
Loki is a practitioner of Nichiren Buddhism and spends his free time studying Black history and Eastern philosophy, eating plant-based cuisine, and enjoying life with his partner, Dell.
Loki serves on the board of directors of Lyrica Baroque, the Lakes Area Music Festival, Decolonizing the Music Room, and the Cedar Cultural Center, and maintains leadership and artistic advisory positions with the Black Opera Alliance and the Gateways Music Festival.
Loki is a practitioner of Nichiren Buddhism and spends his free time studying Black history and Eastern philosophy, eating plant-based cuisine, and enjoying life with his partner, Dell.