BE STEADWELL

BE STEADWELL | she/they/he is a queer pop composer and storyteller from Wash­ington, DC. She composes her songs on stage using looping, vocal layering, and beat boxing. Her original music features earnest lyricism and affirming queer content. Stead­well’s goal as a musician is to make other Black girlies, introverts, and weirdos feel seen and loved. She earned a BA in Black studies from Oberlin College and an MFA in film from Howard University in 2014. Her thesis film, Vow of Silence, screened at film festivals around the world, including at Black Star, HBO’s OutFest, the Schomburg Center, and Inside Out Toronto. In 2019, Steadwell composed the music for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s production of The Gone. Later that year, she wrote and directed A Letter to My Ex, the musical, which imagines a queer Black woman’s experience in the aftermath of a breakup. In 2021, she released her latest album, Succulent.