Bellerophon Whireaux

Bellerophon Whireaux was a Qua musician, composer, and musical historian, most famous as the composer of the opera Zindalya and Ke`syn.

Whireaux studied music on Quadia and worked as a conductor and music teacher for over a century. When Quadia was invaded and conquered by slavers, he was, like many Qua, sent to a "farm" camp where he was routinely drained of his blood for its rejuvenating powers. Whireaux often sang to his fellow prisoners to comfort them; he twice had his tongue cut out, and could not speak for months until it grew back. After several decades of slavery, Whireaux was rescued alongside several others by a group of resistance fighters led by the Qua Ye`keb Millennium.

Escaping to the known galaxy, Whireaux made a living by doing odd jobs while learning. He eventually learned the 's musical notation system and studied music in the, including obtaining a graduate degree from the. He taught at and worked with the Royal Alderaanian Symphony Orchestra, although he resisted publicity, not wishing to discuss his homeworld and expose it to even more potential abuse.

In his exile, Whireaux began composing Zindalya and Ke`syn. He based most of the opera's characters on composites of Qua he had known before the invasion and those he had met in the slave camps. The opera took the better part of a decade to complete. Once it was written, he spent another seventeen years slowly recording the parts, finding various Qua to sing them. When he had a full version, he sent it back to Quadia through the resistance network.

After Ye`keb's daughter Rin Sakaros and her Golden Empire liberated Quadia in 88 ABY, Bellerophon returned home. He was humbled to discover that his opera had become a covert classic, and as Quadia began the arduous process of rebuilding, he was finally able to stage a production of the opera on Quadia in 90 ABY. Rin attended the debut performance.

Although Whireaux continued to compose and resumed teaching music on Quadia, he also spent time reassembling historical Qua musical pieces and styles from partial records. He performed many pieces himself with various instruments and donated the recordings to the historical preservation movement. Whireaux was one of a handful of Qua, along with the Centurion Te`net Organi, the ruling elders, and the surviving resistance leaders, who was almost universally known by all Qua.