The TRILLOQUY Team
New York City-based musician, producer, and activist, Loki Karuna (formerly Garrett McQueen) began his career as a bassoonist, performing with ensembles including the South Arkansas Symphony, Jackson 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 St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. With a desire to "decolonize" American classical music, he later transitioned away from the performance stage and into digital and broadcast media, being heard as a radio host in all 50 states, with direct partners including WUOT, American Public Media, KNVO, WDAV, Texas Public Radio, and countless others. Loki has also appeared in a wide array of television programs, including Oxygen's "Snapped: Killer Couples", TV One's "Fatal Attraction", and Fox's "Glee".
Syndicated radio programming and series created by Loki include "The Sound of 13", "Noteworthy", "Gateways Radio", and "The Sounds of Kwanzaa". 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. In the press, Loki 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 noted his weekly podcast, TRILLOQUY, as a standout and one that is "required listening for industry leaders and listeners alike." In 2024, Loki became a recipient of the Sphinx Organization's MPower Artist Grants for is work in broadcast and digital media, and was named among Musical America's "Top 30 Arts Professionals of the Year".
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 serves on the board of directors for the American Composers Forum, 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, supporting the St. Nicholas Peak district of Soka Gakkai International, and spends his free time studying Black history and Eastern philosophy, eating plant-based cuisine, and enjoying life with his partner, Dell.
Syndicated radio programming and series created by Loki include "The Sound of 13", "Noteworthy", "Gateways Radio", and "The Sounds of Kwanzaa". 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. In the press, Loki 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 noted his weekly podcast, TRILLOQUY, as a standout and one that is "required listening for industry leaders and listeners alike." In 2024, Loki became a recipient of the Sphinx Organization's MPower Artist Grants for is work in broadcast and digital media, and was named among Musical America's "Top 30 Arts Professionals of the Year".
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 serves on the board of directors for the American Composers Forum, 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, supporting the St. Nicholas Peak district of Soka Gakkai International, and spends his free time studying Black history and Eastern philosophy, eating plant-based cuisine, and enjoying life with his partner, Dell.
Scott Blankenship (co-host, Op. 1-200) grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, in a pretty benign and stereotypical midwest middle-class existence. As a senior in high school, Scott discovered theater and entered the University of Nebraska at Omaha as a theater (he spells that 'er') major. UNO was a commuter campus at that point, and in order to fulfill an internship credit Scott got an internship at KVNO. Since the station was on campus, he didn't have to give up his parking spot, and consequently fell in love with public radio. Over the course of almost 15 years, Scott held many different managerial and on-air roles.
In 1993, Scott and three close friends decided to form their own theater group to showcase local playwrights and actors, and The Shelterbelt was born. For over 20 years, The Shelterbelt presented dozens of original offerings from what was once a humble sandwich shop called Killgore's. While living the Bohemian artist lifestyle of a public radio host and actor, Scott began writing short scenes and one-act plays for the 'belt. Some of the pieces produced include He Who Laughs Last, Hypnotized, and the full-length Friends Like These. Friends Like These was nominated for a TAG award for Best Original Script in 2006.
For Scott, TRILLOQUY is the culmination of decades spent honing skills in broadcasting and the arts; writing, editing, storytelling, and all the production elements that you hear every week but happen behind the scenes. When Scott isn't working on TRILLOQUY (or hosting live radio), you can find him playing guitar, woodworking, and brewing beer.
In 1993, Scott and three close friends decided to form their own theater group to showcase local playwrights and actors, and The Shelterbelt was born. For over 20 years, The Shelterbelt presented dozens of original offerings from what was once a humble sandwich shop called Killgore's. While living the Bohemian artist lifestyle of a public radio host and actor, Scott began writing short scenes and one-act plays for the 'belt. Some of the pieces produced include He Who Laughs Last, Hypnotized, and the full-length Friends Like These. Friends Like These was nominated for a TAG award for Best Original Script in 2006.
For Scott, TRILLOQUY is the culmination of decades spent honing skills in broadcasting and the arts; writing, editing, storytelling, and all the production elements that you hear every week but happen behind the scenes. When Scott isn't working on TRILLOQUY (or hosting live radio), you can find him playing guitar, woodworking, and brewing beer.
