Support and recognition for LGBTQ+ composers
As an initiative to support and recognize exceptional and innovative LGBTQ+ composers, producers, and musicians, the OT microgrants provide selected artists with licenses, mentoring, and a platform to showcase their music.
Introducing Gizem Oruç—multimedia artist and community organizer
Gizem Oruç is a Berlin-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, DJ, technology professional, and community organizer. With master’s degrees in both chemistry and sonic arts, they blend scientific precision with creative exploration, producing music that transcends genre and tradition. Their work spans three continents and many collaborative projects.
Currently producing and DJing as 6zm, they also play in the bands Schnieke and Nilipek., and have performed across genres at renowned venues and festivals in Germany, Turkey, the US, and France.
Their works have been featured in exhibitions including Documenta 14, Contemporary Istanbul, and ZKM, and their sounds have reached audiences through films as well as live performances at the Istanbul Pride, SXSW, Volksbühne, Waves, and more.
Gizem is actively involved in queer, trans, feminist, and BIPOC communities—they have contributed to various non-profit projects including the queer feminist collective venue Oya Bar in Kreuzberg, Berlin.
Introducing Elie Gregory—electroacoustic explorer
The microgrant for March 2025 went to Elie Gregory—a composer, producer, and sound artist with roots in Brighton (UK) and Berlin, and an educational background in composition and electroacoustic music. Their work spans from glitchy and abstract multichannel electroacoustic pieces and live electronics to electronica and synthpop.
Released under the moniker ‘Strip Down’, the album Remakings documents their changing voice through means of a duet recorded at different stages of their life. In most recent years their focus has been on collaborating with queer and feminist artists in theatre, performance and choreography to create a space between music and sound, as well as co-producing and remixing songs.
Elie Gregory usually engages synthesizers and manipulates field recordings, so we are intrigued to see in which direction the libraries from Orchestral Tools could take them.
Introducing Jordan Deal—multidisciplinary artist and alchemist
The OT microgrant for February 2025 went to Jordan Deal, a Philadelphia-based multidisciplinary artist and alchemist.
Defying convention and categorization across a variety of mediums, Jordan’s work explores, disassembles, and reinvents narratives of power and resistance.
Musically, their work tackles heavy themes through an intricately woven blend of soundscapes, field recordings, and folk traditions, embracing chaos as both material and method.
They were a 2023-2024 Artistic Fellow at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, a Fall 2022 research fellow at the Amant Foundation, and were most recently invited to Berlin to perform at the CTM Festival—a platform for adventurous music and art.
We are thrilled to support Jordan and share their fascinating work with the world.
Introducing Célyne Baudino—multifaceted multitasking
Our first recipient, Célyne Baudino, is a multitasking music queer creature who creates music for film, live performance, and classic contemporary music.
As a composer, they seek to bring together all kinds of textures, merging vocal, acoustic, and electronic sounds into a complex sonic world.
In 2024, with work on numerous short films and animation, Célyne was nominated for the Cannes Festival Sync Awards and also scored for Kill the Horse, which won Best Animated Short film at the 2024 Shanghai Film Festival.
More recently, Célyne has been collaborating with Éditions A.CHAVE to compose the original music for a major 7-episode documentary series produced by Feliz Films in Paris.
We are thrilled to support Célyne and share their incredible work with the world.
About the microgrants
The OT Microgrants initiative aims to support and recognize LGBTQ+ composers by awarding selected artists a package of licenses and mentoring—a microgrant. With each microgrant we will shine a spotlight on the artist's music, and hopefully help to advance their work and extend their professional network.
Why are we doing this? The composer community is slowly becoming more diverse, but it’s still hugely imbalanced, and its doors are not always open for queer composers. Encouraged by OT staff members from the queer community, we’ve initiated these microgrants to provide support and recognition to LGBTQ+ composers of all levels. We believe wholeheartedly that increased diversity will make the composer community more dynamic and vibrant, and ultimately lead to more exciting music.
Would you like to be considered? Send us an email using the link below.
This project is audited by dif e.V.