Neil Leonard Event Information

LOS HERMANOS ARANGOS - DIRECT FROM HAVANA

2012-01-18T14:29:00.003-05:00

LOS HERMANOS ARANGOS - DIRECT FROM HAVANA

Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 8:15 PM

Berklee Performance Center

Los Hermanos Arangos is an ensemble from Guanabacoa, Cuba where Yoruba, Abakua and other West African traditions are preserved in their most authentic form in the Americas. The Arangos are the only Cuban band to use completely unaltered Afrocuban ritual voice/hand drumming as the basis for a modern repertoire that integrates electric bass, keyboards, brass/winds (no drumset). Leaders, Feliciano and Eugenio Arango are the top-call percussionist/bassist in Cuba and toured with Chucho Valdes, Afrocuban All-Stars, N.G. La Banda, Pablo Milanes, Emiliano Salvador.

Los Hermanos Arangos is led by Feliciano Arango, who was mentored by seminal Cuban bassist Orlando 'Cachaito' Lopez and toured with seminal pianist/composer Emiliano Salvador. Arango was the founding bassist for N.G. La Banda, who he played with for 15 years. With N.G. La Banda, Arango developed a new style of Cuban dance music called 'timba'. He was responsible for leading Cuban bassist into a new approach to bass that greatly enhanced the melodic, percussive overall sound of the instrument in Cuban music.

Ticket: $8 in advance, $12 the day of show.

Berklee Students get four free tickets prior to day of show, and up to four $4 tickets on the day of show.

Berklee Performance Center

136 Massachusetts Avenue

Boston MA 02115

http://www.berkleebpc.com/

617 747-2261

The Berklee Performance Center is easily accessible by public transportation, with parking available in neighboring garages.

A recent performance recorded live in Havana:

News and Events for Spring 2012

2012-01-10T21:22:00.003-05:00

Friday, January 13, 2012, 10:00 PM
Lilly Pad
David Maxwell's OutTakes Unlimited

David Maxwell - piano
Phil Grenadier - trumpet
Neil Leonard - saxophones

The Lily Pad
1353 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02139-1340
http://www.lily-pad.net/

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Casa Las Americas, Havana, Cuba
"Rito de Iniciación/Rite of Initiation" video screening

I contributed music/sound to María Magdalena Campos-Pons' tour-de-force video "Rito de Iniciación/Rite of Initiation," created at the Western Front, Vancouver. This video was recently screened at the Smithsonian Institute Museum of African Art.

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 8:15 PM
Berklee Performance Center

Los Hermanos Arangos
Direct from Havana Cuba

Berklee Performance Center
136 Massachusetts Avenue
Boston MA 02115

Los Hermanos Arangos is an ensemble from Guanabacoa, Cuba where Yoruba, Abakua and other African traditions are preserved in their most authentic form in the Americas. The Arangos are the only Cuban band to use completely unaltered Afrocuban ritual voice/hand drumming as the basis for a modern repertoire that integrates electric bass, keyboards, brass/winds (no drumset). Leaders, Feliciano and Eugenio Arango are the top-call percussionist/bassist in Cuba and toured with Chucho Valdes, Afrocuban All-Stars, N.G. La Banda, Pablo Milanes, Emiliano Salvador.

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Thursday and Friday, March 8 & 9, 2012, 11:30am – 1:30pm
Isabel Stewart Gardner Museum
Ana Prvacki - "Wandering Band"

Performance to celebrate the opening of the New Wing of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, designed by Italy's premiere Architect, Renzo Piano.

The "Wandering Band" is a performance of musicians wandering freely through the Gardner Museum. Conceived by artist Ana Prvacki, the Wandering Band artists will perform their daily practice of exercises, repertoire and improvisation while strolling through the galleries.

Isabel Stewart Gardner Museum
280 Fenway
Boston, MA 02115
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/

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March 19-24, 2012
Performances in Shanghai, China
Details TBA

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Thursday, April 5, 2012, 8PM
Phill Niblock
New England Conservatory

Performances of music by Phill Niblock with Neil Leonard on saxophones and clarinets.

Brown Hall at the New England Conservatory
290 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115

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Sunday, April 29, 2012
Williams College
Location and time - TBA

Interactive-electroacoustic compositions/performances by Ileana Perez Velazquez, Sam Pluta, Kathryn Alexander, Juraj Kos, Jeff Roberts and Neil Leonard

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May 11 - June 11, 2012
Wilfredo Lam Center
Havana Bienial

"FeFa" - performance/installation with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

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My latest CD, Marcel's Window is now available at CDBaby and on iTunes:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/neilleonard2
itunes.apple.com/us/album/marcels-window/id470605068?uo=4

Online videos of release concerts in Philadelphia and Cuba can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/neilleonardmusic

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Leonard, Neil: Marcel's Window reviewed by SeaofTranquility

2012-01-04T16:21:00.003-05:00

Leonard, Neil: Marcel's Window

Neil Leonard is no stranger to the world of jazz having performed and toured with numerous musicians. He is also the Artistic Director of the Interdisciplinary Arts Institute at Berklee College of Music. The Boston based, Philadelphia born saxophonist released his first album Timaeus in 2001. I have not had the pleasure of hearing it although it does sound intriguing; a marriage of computers, algorithms and saxophone. Although it has taken a few years Leonard is back with his new album Marcel's Window and an excellent one it is.

On Marcel's Window Leonard's quartet includes Tom Lawton (piano), Lee Smith (bass) and Craig McIver (drums). Leonard plays alto and soprano saxophones.
All the musicians are Philadelphia born which plays into the album's concept. All the pieces refer to various landmarks in the city, a jazz concept album of sorts or at the very least a theme-based one.

Leonard is an adventurous player focusing on bold melodies and stellar musicianship and while his playing is a focal point by no means are the other musicians left out in the cold. The band plays like they have been together for years, each one an integral part of the whole.
Beginning with "Alex in the Atrium", all crisp saxophone and riveting piano soli, the album is off to a fine start. The piano builds momentum, then eases into more relaxing territory before an outstanding bass solo takes the lead.

On the adventurous "4951 Walnut Street", the sax starts off at a leisurely pace only to burn up the soundscape with a ripping solo. The piano and drum interaction is also excellent.
"Resounding Arc" is a jazzy ballad that slowly unfolds with pretty sax and piano. The album's last two tracks "Invisible Cities" and "Mood for Merritt" highlight the exceptional bass work of Lee Smith and Leonard's melodic sax runs.

Marcel's Window is a tremendous effort from four world class musicians. Fans of traditional jazz will be mightily impressed. Highly recommended!

www.seaoftranquility.org

Concert with Li Tieqiao Beijing, China

2011-11-26T13:07:00.001-05:00

时间：2011.11.30 周三 21：00
地点：鼓楼121酒吧北京市西城区旧鼓楼大街121号（紧邻地铁二号线B口向南800米）
门票：免
演出乐手：
Neil Leonard 尼尔•雷奥纳德（美）：萨克斯，电子乐
Li Tieqiao 李铁桥：萨克斯，简易电子
音乐风格：爵士音乐，实验电子，自由即兴，先锋音乐

Neil Leonard 尼尔•雷奥纳德（美国）
尼尔•雷奥纳德是一位跨界的艺术家，作曲家和萨克斯演奏家。他与视觉艺术家玛丽亚•马格达莱纳合作的作品《坎波斯-庞斯》（Campos-Pons）在世界各地广泛地上演，包括在49届威尼斯双年展、纽约现代艺术博物馆、加拿大国家美术馆和美国国务院在达喀尔举办的双年展上的演出等。他个人的作品在世界各地也都有演出，其中包括在纽约卡内基音乐厅，惠特尼美术馆等地的演出。他的音乐也出现在各种生活场合中，包括厨房、出版发行公司、针织厂和媒体实验室中。同时作为演奏者，他的演出足迹也遍布世界各地。雷奥纳德同时还是波斯顿伯克利音乐学院电子音乐制作与设计的教授，他率先开设了跨学科和互动艺术的课程。他也是波斯顿GASP艺术馆的合伙人。

李铁桥，实验乐手和演出策划人，萨克斯演奏。
1973年生于湖南，现生活工作在北京。他策划的声东击西音乐艺术项目，致力于东西方各种音乐风格之间的交流；以及音乐与其他艺术领域的跨界合作。李铁桥早年在美好药店乐队任萨克斯手。05年到07年在挪威旅居期间开始涉及自由爵士和即兴音乐。2009年开始给现代舞音乐和艺术电影配乐。李铁桥参入录制的唱片有：《被侮辱的姿势》，《请给我放大一张表妹的照片》，《美之瓜9+2》《通往北方之路》，《南京现场》，《风啊，他们疯了！》。.
李铁桥网站：www.litieqiao.com
李铁桥微博: http://weibo.com/litieqiao
李铁桥博客：http://litieqiao.blogbus.com/
李铁桥演出:http://www.litieqiao.com/page2performance.html « 收起

Berklee en Cuba: Premio Internacional CUBADISCO 2011

2011-11-22T17:04:00.001-05:00

In December 2010, I led Berklee College of Music's first official trip to Cuba. Berklee is founded on jazz and popular music rooted in the African cultural diaspora, and its comprehensive curriculum is distinctly contemporary in its content and approach, and embraces the principal musical movements of our time. With this as Berklee's mission, I saw that it was imperative that our students travel to Cuba to experience Cuban music first hand and perform with Cuban peers.

To this end, I worked with Enmanuel Blanco, Director of the Laboratorio Nacional de Musica Electroacustica (LNME) to design an immersive composition workshop involving students from Berklee, LNME and University of the Arts (ISA). The students assignment was to create a new electroacoustic work to be performed using cutting-edge digital tools along with folkloric Cuban musicians the Museo de Bellas Artes, which took place on December 3, 2010. The workshop lasted one week and Berkee students also heard a concert by the JoJazz orchestra, a concert by Los Hermanos Arangos, a bembe in Guanabacoa, Chucho Valdés playing in his living room and a solo presentation by Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta at the Garcia Lorca Theater. Needless to say, my students returned to Boston both exhausted and amazed how contemporary and historically deep Cuban music is.

Before leaving for Havana last December, one of my students asked, "How long did it take to organize this trip?" and I answered "Twenty five years." I first traveled to Cuba in 1986, when I was roughly my students age. I had heard the masterpieces by Chucho Valdés and Chano Pozo and knew that I had to see this work first hand. Between 1986-87 I had played with and visited the homes of Merciditas Valdes, Orlando 'Cachaíto' López, Emiliano Salvador, Juan Blanco, Afrocuba de Matanzas and many others. I collected Egrem recordings by Leo Brouwer, Amadeo Roldán, Alejandro García Caturla and Oriente Lopez's Grupo Afrocuba.

From this initial contact, I found Cuba to be a culture that proudly embraces intellectual rigor, cutting-edge modernism, technical innovation, high-level education, and folkloric roots, that are fundamentally interdisciplinary. Twenty years of follow-up work grounded these initial impressions with a wealth of information gleaned by collaborations with Cuban musicians, LNME and extensive work with my wife, Cuban-born artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons. With this foundation, the primary goal for Berklee workshop was to expose my students to the aforementioned essential aspects of Cuba culture through direct work with Cuban musicians and stimulate an internal dialog regarding our own work. I aimed less to teach Boston based students to play, compose or explain Cuban music, in favor of mentoring them in working with young Cuban composers and having them work with LNME/ISA teachers Juan Piñera and Sigried Marcía who share these values.

Now, in May 2011, Berklee is greatly honored to have to opportunity to embark on a second workshop/tour in Cuba. This tour begins with our students participation in Cubadisco's "Son Mas largo del Mundo" here in Santiago de Cuba and a concert at Sala Dolores. It was here in Santiago that I heard my first concert of music in Cuba, the Conjunto Folklórico de Oriente with the dancers dancing the "chancleta" and the fantastic musette "tromp China" soloist. From Santiago the group goes on to a full schedule in Havana that includes performances at ISA, Museo de Bellas Artes, Casa Las Americas with Los Hermanos Arangos and Teatro Nacional with Danza Contemporanea.

Much as my initial contact with Cuban musicians proved to be pivotal to my growth as artists, I expect that my Berklee students will process their experience in Cuba for years to come. Their interaction with musician across the island is intended as a model for collaborating with artists from different cultures and appreciating that there are leaders in artistic quality, conviction and innovation to learn across the globe. Furthermore, Cuba is close in geographic proximity and linked through a shared cultural heritage. Without an understanding and an experience of this rich culture, my students' work to understand music back home and the principal musical movements of our time will never be complete.

Ana Prvacki - Wandering Band at the Isabel Stewart Gardner Museum

2011-11-16T21:38:00.001-05:00

This is a piece from the magazine Flash Art on an ongoing project that I am doing with Ana Prvacki and the Isabel Stewart Gardner Museum.

"An important aspect of this practice is Prvacki's inclusion of local musicians. In Boston at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, she invited composer Neil Leonard of the Berklee College of Music to collaborate on a sound piece with four of his graduate students."

News and Events in China, Cuba, Nashville, Philadelphia and a new CD

2011-11-14T19:39:00.001-05:00

My latest CD, Marcel's Window is now available at CDBaby and on iTunes.
http://cdbaby.com/cd/neilleonard2
itunes.apple.com/us/album/marcels-window/id470605068?uo=4

The band is stellar and the recording represents the sound of
Philadelphia at its best! Please see news on CD Release concerts in
Philly and Havana below.

Neil Leonard - woodwinds
Tom Lawton - piano (Dave Douglas, Don Byron)
Lee Smith - bass (Mongo Santamaria, Cedar Walton, Roberta Flack)
Craig McIver - drums (Max Roach M-Boom, Odean Pope)

Click here to read press release at Allaboutjazz
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=88506

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María Magdalena Campos-Pons
Journeys
I contributed sound for her tour-de-force installation "Spoken Softly
with Mama", 1998.
(Mixed-media installation of embroidered silk and organza over ironing
boards with photographic transfers, embroidered cotton sheets, cast
glass irons and trivets, wooden benches, six projected video tracks,
and stereo sound; dimensions variable. Purchased 1999; National
Gallery of Canada.)

October 7, 2011–January 8, 2012
Frist Center for the Visual Arts

http://fristcenter.org/calendar-exhibitions/detail/maria-magdalena-campos-pons

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María Magdalena Campos-Pons
MAMA/RECIPROCAL ENERGY
I contributed sound for installations and video screening of "Sacred Bath."

October 13–December 8, 2011
Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/gallery/exhibits/exhibit_campos-pons.php

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Marcel's Window - CD Release Concert

Friday, Novermber 18, 2011 at 5:00PM

Philadelphia Art Museum

Neil Leonard - woodwinds
Tom Lawton - piano (Dave Douglas, Don Byron)
Lee Smith - bass (Mongo Santamaria, Cedar Walton, Roberta Flack)
Craig McIver - drums (Max Roach M-Boom, Odean Pope)

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
China Conservatory
Concert with members of National Music and Dance and Troupe
Details TBA

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Monday, December 12, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Bryant / Leonard / Simons / Newton @ Outpost
Dave Bryant - keyboards
Neil Leonard - saxophones and electronics
Junko Fujiwara Simons - cello
Curt Newton - drums

Outpost 186 1/2 Hampshire Street
Inman Square, Cambridge, MA
http://www.zeitgeist-outpost.org

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Havana Jazz Festival, December 2011
Marcel's Window - CD Release Concerts

Thursday, December 15 –Tito Junco Concert Hall of Bertolt Brecht Theater
Saturday, December 17 – Workshop National School of Arts (ENA)
Sunday, December 18 – Concert Casa de Cultura de Plaza

Other events TBA
Berklee Faculty Jazz Quintet
Neil Leonard - director/composer/saxophones
Joanne Brackeen - piano
John Lockwood - bass
Yoron Israel - drums

Neil Leonard, un músico entre Cuba y Berklee

2011-11-14T13:32:00.001-05:00

Prensa-Latina article: published in Havana, Cuba

La Habana 11 nov (PL) El saxofonista y profesor de Berklee College of Music, Neil Leonard, regresará a La Habana con una alineación de músicos de esaimportante institución académica para participar en la próxima edición del Festival de Jazz, del 15 al de 18 diciembre.

Impulsor de los prolíficos intercambios culturales puestos en marcha entre estudiantes y egresados del Berklee College y sus colegas cubanos, Leonard retornará a la isla para presentar su más reciente producción discográfica, Marcel's Window.

"En los últimos 20 años he colaborado con artistas de varias disciplinas en la creación de música y sonidos para danza, teatro, video, performance experimental y cine, dijo a Prensa Latina, desde Boston, en una entrevista vía correo electrónico.

"Estas colaboraciones incluyen a mi esposa, la artista cubana María Magdalena Campos-Pons, y han generado un espacio para investigar la historia y la geografía de sitios específicos en regiones como Japón, China, África, Cuba y Europa.

"Cuando compuse la música de este CD, agregó, me nutrí de las experiencias vividas en esos lugares, de gran interés cultural".

Su última visita a la isla fue en mayo pasado, de nuevo al frente del grupo de músicos norteamericanos participantes en la Feria Internacional Cubadisco. En esa ocasión realizó talleres y conciertos, en especial en conjunto con el Instituto Superior de Arte (Isa), el Laboratorio Nacional de Música Electroacústica, (Lnme) y la compañía Danza Contemporánea (Dcc).

"Esta expedición expuso a la comunidad de Berklee la amplia base de la innovación y el carácter interdisciplinario de las artes contemporáneas de Cuba, afirmó. Durante el periplo, nuestros estudiantes conocieron la obra de figuras como Juan Blanco, Carlos Acosta, Wifredo Lam, Manuel Mendive, X Alfonso.

"También tuvieron la posibilidad de crear junto a artistas del Lnme, Danza Contemporánea y el Isa, lo cual contribuyó a apreciar las sutilezas y complejidades de las artes en la Cuba de hoy", puntualizó.

El autor de Nuestro tiempo, quien imparte las asignaturas de composición, programación y performances con video, señaló que para sus alumnos ese intercambio clasifica dentro del pequeño espacio personal reservado solo a las experiencias que logran cambiar la vida.

"Mis estudiantes estaban particularmente impresionados por la forma en que los jóvenes artistas cubanos manifiestan un profundo sentido de identidad colectiva y respeto por las raíces tradicionales, y al mismo tiempo aspiran a ser profundamente modernos y hacen sorprendentes obras personales, detalló.

"Ellos me expresaron que la posibilidad de centrar su atención en una iniciativa como esta devino una experiencia que les cambió la vida. Estuvieron muy orgullosos por lo que lograron y fueron desafiados sin duda por el nivel de producción de sus colegas cubanos",subrayó.

En los últimos tiempos este proyecto les abrió las puertas de Berklee a diversos artistas y compositores cubanos. "Hemos fomentado el contacto continuo con programas de residencias cortas que incluyeron a George Céspedes, coreógrafo de Danza Contemporánea, quien impartió un taller sobre la creación de música para danza, particularizó Leonard.

"También acogimos un concierto con obras de 5 compositores del Lnme, con la presencia de la joven Maureen Reyes, quien dictó conferencias sobre música electroacústica en Cuba", añadió.

A su juicio,el éxito combinado de los últimos encuentros sostenidos en Cuba contribuyó a formar en Berklee el nuevo Instituto Interdisciplinario de las Artes con el objetivo de ayudar a los jóvenes compositores a participar en un diálogo global sobre la creación artística.

El modelo de talleres intensivos diseñado con el Lnme, incluyendo la composición colectiva y la integración en todas las disciplinas, es el que queremos mantener y desarrollar. En resumen, los viajes a Cuba, opinó, nos han incitado a reflexionar sobre nuestro trabajo y actualizar nuestros propios métodos para la educación".

ag/mih

*Periodista cubano. Colaborador de Prensa Latina

Neil Leonard asistirá a Festival de Jazz en Cuba que preside Chucho Valdés

2011-11-14T13:29:00.001-05:00

Neil Leonard asistirá a Festival de Jazz en Cuba que preside Chucho Valdés

AFP
LA HABANA -- El saxofonista estadounidense Neil Leonard, profesor del Berklee College of Music de Boston, participará en diciembre en La Habana en el Festival Jazz Plaza-2011, que preside el laurado pianista y compositor cubano Jesús ‘Chucho’ Valdés, informó este viernes un medio local.

Leonard, “impulsor de los intercambios culturales” entre Cuba y Estados Unidos, viajará a la isla acompañado por “músicos del Berklee College” y presentará en el Festival (del 15 al 18 de diciembre) su más reciente disco “Marcel’s Window”, de jazz contemporáneo, señaló la agencia cubana Prensa Latina (PL).

“Hemos fomentado el contacto continuo (entre artistas cubanos y estadounidenses) con programas de residencias cortas”, dijo Leonard que, según PL, estuvo en la isla en mayo pasado al frente de un grupo de músicos de su país que participó en la feria internacional Cubadisco-2010.

El Berklee College of Music, considerado la mejor escuela de jazz del mundo, entregó este año el título de doctor honoris causa a Valdés, quien fundó en 1973 el grupo Irakere -buque insignia del jazz cubano- y a su padre, el también pianista y compositor Bebo Valdés, por sus aportes a ese género musical.

En la edición anterior del festival, presidido por Valdés desde su fundación en 1980, participaron los músicos norteamericanos Andrea Brachfeld (flautista) y Arturo O’ Farrill (pianista), hijo del mítico Chico O’ Farrill, pieza clave en la creación del jazz afrocubano a mediados del siglo XX.

Los intercambios culturales entre Cuba y Estados Unidos -sin relaciones desde 1961- mejoraron con el gobierno de Barack Obama, que eliminó en 2009 restricciones a las remesas y viajes de cubanoamericanos a la isla, y comenzó a aplicar en abril una mayor flexibilización de las visitas de religiosos, académicos, artistas y deportistas estadounidenses.

Marcel's Window - CD Release concert

2011-11-13T23:01:00.001-05:00

Friday, Novermber 18, 2009 at 5:00PM

Philadelphia Art Museum

Neil Leonard - woodwinds
Tom Lawton - piano (Dave Douglas, Don Byron)
Lee Smith - bass (Mongo Santamaria, Cedar Walton, Roberta Flack)
Craig McIver - drums (Max Roach M-Boom, Odean Pope)

Now available at CDBaby and on iTunes.Click here to read press release at Allaboutjazz

SONGS OF SUN RA

2011-11-08T08:10:00.001-05:00

SONGS OF SUN RA

Thursday, November 3 · 8:00pm - 10:00pm

Berklee Performance Center GA
136 Massachusetts Ave
Boston, MA

The Berklee Faculty Intergalactic Space Telepathy Arkestra performs songs and sound masses originally delivered to Earth by Afro-futurist composer and self-professed extraterrestrial Sun Ra. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 19 at 10:00 a.m. Can't make it to the show? This event will stream live on concertwindow.com.

Voice/Percussion - Diane Richardson
Piano/Keyboards/Voice/Percussion - Carolyn Wilkins
Trumpet/Voice/Percussion - Charles Lewis
Trombone/Voice/Percussion - David Harris
Saxophones/Flute/Voice/Percussion - Lance Van Lenten
Saxophone/voice/percussion - Rick DiMuzio
Saxophones/Reeds/Flute/Voice/Percussion - Stan Strickland
Saxophone/voice/percussion - Neil Leonard
Bass/Voice/Percussion - Ron Mahdi
Drums/Voice/Percussion - Ron Savage
Percussion/Voice - Ricardo Monzon
Conductor/Voice/Bass/Percussion - David Clark

Genma Speaks! Article on Magda and myself in Nashville

2011-10-14T16:31:00.004-04:00

We will be interviewed by cultural activist and radio journalist Genma Holms this Saturday:

Living Your Best Life Radio Show can be heard on 880 AM in the Nashville-Middle Tennessee area and on Ustream.TV worldwide from 10am-12pm CST.

2011-10-14T13:22:00.001-04:00

October 14, 2011 – 6:00 pm | Performance

Performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons
Auditorium
Free; seating is first come, first served

María Magdalena Campos-Pons will debut an intimate performance art piece at the Frist Center in relation to her exhibition Journeys, on view in the Gordon Contemporary Artists Project Gallery from October 7, 2011 to January 8, 2012.

Using her body, voice, and surrounding space, Campos-Pons will expand on the ideas about dislocation that she explores in the accompanying exhibition of her work, Journeys. The notion of journey refers to Campos-Pons’s own place within the African Diaspora: she is a woman of Nigerian ancestry, born and raised in the province of Matanzas, Cuba, who has lived in Boston since 1991.

The event will be performed in collaboration with her husband, American musician and composer Neil Leonard.

New CD: Marcel's Window available on CDBaby, iTunes, Amazon

2011-10-05T07:16:00.007-04:00

Marcel's Window
Neil Leonard Quartet
To purchase go to: http://cdbaby.com/cd/neilleonard2

Over the previous two decades, I have collaborated with artists from a variety of disciplines to create music and sound for dance, theater, video/sculpture installation, experimental performance, and film. Many of these collaborations included local artists and materials to create dialogues about the history and geography of specific sites in Japan, China, Africa, Cuba, and Europe where the works were premiered. When I began composing the music for this CD, I expected that I would be writing for a homecoming jazz concert. Instead, using methods I learned from visual artists, I found myself creating site-specific compositions inspired by cultural landmarks in my own backyard.

I grew up in Philadelphia and played with fantastic musicians as a teenager, including Uri Caine, Robin and Kevin Eubanks, and many more. In 2007, I was invited to return to Philadelphia to perform a concert in the newly renovated Paul Robeson House. I needed a band, so I called Tom Lawton, whom I first played with when I was 16 years old, and we put together this quartet. We premiered "4951 Walnut Street," "Resounding Arc" and "Invisible Cities" at Paul Robeson's home at 4951 Walnut Street. As a young musician, I passed that building many times, not knowing that this distinguished singer-actor, forceful activist, and true Renaissance man was living on this unassuming block. "Resounding Arc" refers to the resonance of Robeson's work and the base of Robeson's rocking chair, one of the few pieces of original furniture in his home. "Invisible Cities" is a reflection on the multiple realities of urban life.

A concert in the Philadelphia Museum of Art the following year provided an opportunity to reassemble the quartet and expand its repertoire. "Alex in the Atrium" and "Marcel's Window" were premiered in the main atrium of the museum where Alexander Calder's "Untitled" mobile floats above visitors, facing capstone works by Calder père at Logan Circle and Calder’s grandfather on top of City Hall. "Marcel's Window" refers to the window cut into the museum's Parthenon-style facade to illuminate Marcel Duchamp's "The Bride Striped Bare by Her Bachelors," an architectural comment on Duchamp’s rupture with the western art canon.

"Mood for Merritt," a blues dedicated to pioneering Philadelphia bassist and composer Jymie Merritt rounds out the set. I admired Merritt's work on recordings with Art Blakey and Lee Morgan and played with him when I lived in Philly.

I am joined on this recording by three musicians with outstanding knowledge and ability. Pianist Tom Lawton plays my compositions as if he wrote them himself. Bassist Lee Smith backed up soul diva Roberta Flack, laid down Cuban mambos with Mongo Santamaria, and is as inventive and daring as anyone I've worked with. Drummer Craig McIver, who played with Max Roach's M-Boom percussion ensemble, builds fantastic grooves and uses ideas from all of us as he crafts subtleties of the form.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with these superb musicians, who’ve made me feel like the‘ve spent their lives training to make this music together.

Neil Leonard

Neil Leonard - alto and soprano saxophone
Tom Lawton - piano
Lee Smith - bass
Craig McIver - drums

All compositions by Neil Leonard (ASCAP)
www.neilleonard.com

Produced by Neil Leonard
Recorded January 28-29, 2009 by Matt Balitsaris at Maggie's Farm, Pipersville PA
Mixed summer/fall 2010 by Neil Leonard and John Hull, at GASP Studios, Boston MA
Mastered by Jonathan Wyner at M Works Studios, Cambridge MA

Graphic Design by Terrance K. O’Leary; Design concept and photo for silhouette by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons.

Special thanks to: George Massenberg for mixing guidance; Philagrafika and the Paul Robeson House for commissioning "4951 Walnut Street" "Resounding Arc" and "Invisible Cities"; Sara Moyan of the Philadelphia Art Museum for featuring the full collection of compositions at the Museum; Tom Lawton for logistical assistance and Tom's family for lending me my first saxophone; and to my wife Magdalena, son Arcadio, and extended family for supporting me every step of the way.

© Neil Leonard 2011
All Rights Reserved

Maria Magdalena Campos Pons and Neil Leonard at NEU

2011-10-03T12:20:00.001-04:00

Date: 10-06-2011
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: 305 Shillman, Northeastern University

Northeastern University and the Department of Art + Design presents artists Maria Magdalena Campos Pons and Neil Leonard.

Born in Matanzas in 1959, Campos-Pons was educated in Cuba at the Escuela Nacional de Arte (1976–1979) and Instituto Superior de Arte (1980–1985). In 1988 she continued her studies as an exchange student in the graduate program at the Massachusetts College of Art. Campos-Pons has been honored with numerous international solo and group exhibitions from institutions as MoMA and MoMA P.S.1,TATE Liverpool UK ; the Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; and the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which hosted a 20-year retrospective of Campos-Pons’ work in 2006 that traveled to the Bass Museum in Miami. Campos-Pons has also been included in a number of prestigious international art surveys, including the 49th Venice Biennale in 2001; the Johannesburg Biennale, Johannesburg, South Africa; the First Liverpool Biennial; the Dak’ART Biennale in Senegal; and most recently, the Guangzhou Triennial, China.

Her art can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; the National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, among many others. Campos-Pons teach at SMFA and Co founder GASP.

NEIL LEONARD works as a sound artist, electronic musician, composer and saxophonist. Leonard’s Dreaming of an Island, (for orchestra, electronics and live-video) was premiered by the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Leonard's composition Totems was premiered at Carnegie Hall by Don Byron and Uri Caine. His Echoes and Footsteps was featured by the Tel Aviv Biennial for New Music, Issue Project Room (NYC) and the Auditorium di Roma. Leonard's collaborative work with visual artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons was featured by the 49th Venice Biennial, Museum of Modern Art (NYC); purchased by the National Gallery of Canada; and presented by the U.S. State Department at Dakar Biennial. Leonard composed the music for Relatives, by Tony Oursler and Constance DeJong featured by the Whitney Biennial. Leonard is a professor of Electronic Production and Design and Artistic Director of the Interdisciplinary Arts Institute at Berklee College of Music, Boston. He taught sound installation at the University of Padova and the C. Pollini Conservatory, Italy.
Admission: Free to the public

For Directions & Campus map: www.northeastern.edu/campusmap/maps.html

Organizer: Department of Art + Design
Contact: Judy Ulman j.ulman@neu.edu

Saxophone/Video Duets

2011-09-14T15:56:00.001-04:00

Friday Sept 23, 8 PM

Doctor T, -- Video Improvisations
Dave Bryant -- Piano
Eric Crawley -- Harpejji and Electronics
Neil Leonard -- Reeds

Each Musician will perform a duet with Doctor T. The duets will be followed by a quartet set.

Outpost 186 1/2 Hampshire Street
Inman Square, Cambridge
zeitgeist-outpost.org

2011-09-05T20:46:00.001-04:00

D.E.S.
Dubito Ergo Sum

eine Tanzperformance von
MORGAN NARDI CHOREOGRAPHY

PREMIERE : 6 - 7 - 8 OKTOBER 2011, Tanzhaus NRW, Dusseldorf, Germany

Choreografie, Performance: Morgan Nardi
Regie, Dramaturgie: Alessandro De Vita
Tanz: Kefa Odhiambo Oiro
Musik: Neil Leonard
Sounddesign: Idrioema
Visuelle Kunst: Hinrich Gross
Management, PR: mechtild tellmann kulturmanagement
Organisation: Martin Brüggemann

Es gibt keine Sicherheit.
Die haben wir verloren. Von diesem Punkt der Unsicherheit aus beginnt eine Reise der jegliche Richtung fehlt. Jemand hat einmal gesagt, dass man das Ziel vernichten muss, wenn man etwas finden will.
Was bringt es, wenn man sich völlig vom Zweifel einnehmen lässt? Was geschieht, wenn wir allen Stimmen Gehör schenken, die sich im Körper bewegen? Wie viele Körper haben wir? Welche Form wird die Zeit haben, wenn nichts sicher ist? Was geschieht im Raum, wenn sich die Wahrnehmung der Realität ständig verändert?
Der Zweifel ist ein Prinzip der Revolution, er kratzt ständig an unserer Sicherheit. Lässt man den Zweifel erst einmal Wurzel fassen, wird etwas in die Wege geleitet, dass unser gesamtes Handeln bestimmt und uns die Erfahrung des “Doppelten” und des zitternden Schatten des Ritus machen lässt. Aus diesem Zweifel entsteht dann der Samen der Kreativität

Eine Produktion von Morgan Nardi, koproduziert durch das tanzhaus nrw und Dance Forum Nairobi, Kenia.
Gefördert durch das Kulturamt der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf, das Ministerium für Familie, Kinder, Jugend, Kultur und Sport des Landes NRW, die Kunststiftung NRW und das NRW Kultursekretariat Wuppertal.
Unterstützt durch die Residenzprogramme von PACT Zollverein Essen und Körper -- International Dance Contemporary Art Center, Neapel, sowie GAI -- Association for the Circuit of the Young Italian Artists.

El Impacto de Musica Cubana en el Mundo - Cubadisco Talk

2011-07-15T16:38:00.020-04:00

"El Impacto de Musica Cubana en el Mundo"
Cubadisco Talk, May 16, 2011, The talk and questions are translated from Spanish
Cine Rialo, Santiago de Cuba

EXCERPT

LEONARD:

When we studied Western music history in the conservatory, we were taught that a key point for Western music is the piece written by the French composer Edgard Varèse, called “Ionization”. It is a piece written for percussion alone, for eight classic percussionists but it also incorporates the bongo, the Cuban clave and perhaps other Cuban instruments.

Later, when I had time to research and study Cuban music, and read the book by maestro José Aldévol, I learned that Amadeo Roldán wrote a piece for percussion alone, months before Varèse. Roldán’s piece [Rítmicas V, VI] is still not available at the Berklee library. It is still not available at the New England Conservatory library, or at Julliard. This work remains invisible for the most rigorous composers of my country. I later learned that that Nicolas Slonimsky, a Russian scholar who wrote a book called “The Music of Latin America” and was collector of musical scores of Roldán and [Alejandro Garcia] Caturlas had deposited these scores at the Philadelphia library. So I went to the library, asked if I could see these scores, they brought me the scores and I immediately went to the copy machine to duplicate them. The collection director came to stop me and said: “What are you doing?” and I said: “I am making copies of the music”, and he said: “Stop.” and I said: “ Look, I am a teacher, if you could tell me where I can find this scores. In which library in my city I can check them out for one day to read them, or to rent them I will stop right now ”. And so he said: “Look, these do not exist elsewhere. Photocopy them for your students.”

We have some contact with Cuba. But what we have in the U.S. are only fragments. And to get to know Cuba one has to come here to experience it. I hope that in time, things will get better, the access to information is getting better, but for people of my generation, it was very hard. So I call this problem a problem of invisible roots.

Another thing that I want to briefly talk about is the impact of Cuban music on Jazz.

In the year 1948, the percussionist Chano Pozo was part of Dizzy Gillespie’s band. There was a very important composer and innovator, his name was George Russell and he was the composer for the band. Dizzy composed “Manteca” with Chano. George and Chano composed a work called "Cubano Be, Cubano Bop". The father of modalism in jazz that wrote a very important book for all us, even those that do not know Georges's book [Lydian Chromatic Concept] were influted by the theoretical work of George Russell who composed for Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and many others.

I am going to play a fragment of the work of George Russell with Chano Pozo and a fragment of George’s music after that. ... This exchange between Chano and George began in a bus from New York to Boston. George told me that Chano was in the back of the bus singing a ‘nañingo’ chant, and George asked Dizzy if they could include that chant in the show in Boston that night. So this innovation for the US premiered in Boston.

Ok so here is the fragment of Chano Pozo and George Russell" - Cubano Be, Cubano Bop," 1948.

(MUSIC)

So this was Dizzy’s orchestra with Chano and now I am going to play a fragment of George’s piece called “It’s About Time,” 1996.

(MUSIC)

In this music you can hear not only rhythmic but also a harmonic influence from Cuba.

Another thing, I want to briefly address is the vacuum of information that we had during the 70’s in the United States, during the blockade that still exist but this era was pre-internet, pre-CD’s, and pre-computers and it was still harder to exchange information.

In this vacuum, the most important mainstream jazz groups were Weather Report, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock. They all had percussionists but most of the time the percussionist were Brazilian. There was Guilherme Franco with McCoy Tyner, Dom Um Romao with Weather Report and Airto Morea with all those groups. As a teenager, I had a band and these groups were the model for us. So we looked, for a percussionist in my hometown Philadelphia and there was an excellent percussionist named Frank Williams. He was part of a group of African American percussionists that were trying to retrieve their roots. These musicians had played with Mongo Santamaria, with Grover Washington, but they also a folkloric ensemble as well. Frank was a model musician for me because he was such an outstanding musician. ... He taught me that was that the important source for the art of hand drumming in the Americas was Cuba.

Around 1978 the first recording of a contemporary Cuban group made since the start of the blockade was released in the US, it Irakere recorded live in New York. With this LP it was possible for us to understand that yes, we have jazz in the United States but there are fragments and influences and a level of rigor, and even authentic jazz that exists outside of the U.S. Then because of that vacuum of information, I had the idea of going to Cuba and see this work first hand.

I made this trip to Cuba in 1986, I started here in Santiago de Cuba and played with Armando Garzón. I saw the Conjunto Folklorico Oriental. I met Danilo Orozco at UNEAC and I understood even more the fact that I only knew fragments. The more I became familiar with Cuban music, the more I was able to understand that I only knew fragments, but that also I only knew fragments of my own culture because our cultures are connected.

Well, we have little time today. But I am going to talk a little bit more about an impact of Cuban music:. When Muñequitos (de Matanzas) toured the United States two weeks ago they were in Boston. I was asked to introduce the Muñequitos on stage and to explain the cultural tradition of the Muñequitos de Matanzas and their significance. I thought that perhaps the most important thing that the US audience had to understand is that they are not only a marvelous ensemble, but for the most important musicians of my country, for percussionists such as Giovanni Hidalgo who played with Eddie Palmieri, Paul Simon and Santana; and for saxophonists such as Steve Coleman who played with many seminal musicians, and for Herbie Hancock’s percussionist named Bill Summers, after making gold records, platinum records and even after the Grammy’s, after this, the only thing that they could do after that was to go to Matanzas to study with Muñequitos. Bill Summers, after releasing those famous records with Herbie Hancock, went to Matanzas and studied with Chacha Esteban Vega, one of the founders of Muñequitos, who initiated him into the culture and the music of Cuba.

That is to say, our popular music, our modern music, our jazz has an immeasurable connection to Cuban music. It is a profound root for music in the United States. I was planning on ending with a phrase that Mayito Rivera said earlier today: “your music is more than a national patrimony, it is a world patrimony.”

Thank you.

MODERATOR:

Now is time for the debate, questions, and comments. I think it’s important to have this musician here sharing his experiences and everything he can tell us through composition examples and through many different ways. Mayito Rivera, please …

MAYITO RIVERA:

Neil, for us Cuban musicians, when we think about North American musicians, we have a lot of respect. But we would like to know what is their opinion about Cubania, the music of today, because you are taking about the masters of the past. I would like to know what opinion do North American musicians have about the quality of our music?

LEONARD:

I think that our opinion is still the same. When I had to prepare information for my students who are here with us I showed them a DVD of Los Van Van in Karl Marx theater and other examples I had of young artists. I showed the Habava De Primera but I still need more information. We’ve seen some Cuban rap artists on the internet as well. The opinion is how it has always been very strong. When I got to Havana to work on a project with Danza Contemporánea, Berklee students started to show up even if they were not part of my student group, and hoped to participate. They still have the notion that Cuban music is so important that they have to come and see for themselves.

MAYITO RIVERA:

I asked this question because I would like to hear his opion; I have an anecdote with the Van Van orchestra in 2006 at the Jazz Festival in Tokyo, Japan. We were there as Los Van Vans, and Chick Corea was there with a big group of great musicians. Omar Hakim was there, one of the greatest percussionists. [John] Patitucci, on the bass, and they were openning for the Van Van orchestra, we were closing the show. And it caught my attention, being the first time that I have had seen those great musicians at the stage together as a group, and again, that was the first time that I saw them and after they finished, they were behind the stage, Los Van Van were playing “Sandunguera” and they were behind, hidden on the stage, behind the curtain seated, observing Samuel [Formell] playing drums. Obesrving the execution of a piece that is so simple for us, musically speaking for us like “Sandunguera”. It really called my attention and I was fulley moved, I could not believe it. That is why I am asking, and it is very important to hear …

WILFREDO NARANJO VERDECIA [DIRECTOR, ORQUESTA TÍPICA ORIGINAL DE MANZANILLO]:

The magic is truly …

MAYITO RIVERA:

They were watching, from the back of the stage like little kids watching us between an opening in the curtain, watching Samuel playing the solo on Sanduguera on the timbale. So I had this anecdote, but let hear his point of view.

LEONARD:

When I went to Panamá for a jazz festival and Chucho (Valdéz) was playing with his quartet and I was with Ruben Blades. We went to the stage and Chucho’s piano was like let’s say right there [ten feet away] and he was studying Chucho because at that time Ruben was the Minister of Tourism for Panama, he was sort of studying with a great desire to join in singing. You are the school for us.

LEONARD

When we meet the administrative group from Berklee on Friday, my students had spent three days in here. We had already prepared a piece with Los Hermanos Arangos, a piece we will perform at Casa de las Américas. We also went to the ISA [University of the Arts] to prepare a concert with students at ISA. When the full Berklee group joined us, one of them asked my students “How is the experience of being here in Cuba as American musicians studying and playing with Cuban musicians?” Our cellist Dean Capper said: “Look, here we cannot fool the audience as we do in the United States”, Yes the rhythm is important but you can’t deceive the people either, you have to play hard.

MAYITO RIVERA:

That vacuum that you mentioned, during the 70’s, when did it end, with Irakere?

LEONARD:

The window into Cuban music?

MAYITO RIVERA:

Yes.

LEONARD:

No that was the beginning, but I had to struggle to learn more. Before I came to Cuba my friends told me there was another band called Afrocuba lead by Oriente Lopez and so I came here and brought back a pile of LP’s including Van Van, Reve, Caturla, Afrocuba, Pablo Milanes, Merceditas Valdes. I went to Cachao’s house [Orlando "Cachaíto" López] … Actually, in every town I went to I asked musicians “were could I find LP’s. I do not care about the gifts, I do not care about the rum, I want to leave with music.”

When I returned to the U.S. someone called me from San Francisco and asked If I went to Matanzas and I said ‘yes.’ This person asked if I saw Afrocuba of Matanzas and whether I had a tape recorder. I answered yes they said, “We want a copy of this concert and we are ready to exchange recordings for what you have.” ... So there was this underground of US musicians sharing music.

I see the exchange more with classic Cuban groups, but for example, with Berklee’s rap artist Shea Rose, that is with us here, she was not familiar with any rapper here in Havana. I looked for a rapper here in Santiago to work with her, but from the United Stated we still do not have sufficient information. I need more information because I am presenting Cuba, at least to my school, as a country a very diverse culture, because when I was here in Santiago de Cuba [in 1986] I saw the Conjunto Folklorico de Oriente, it started with women dancing in sandals and an African Cuban playing Chinese musette. I didn’t expect that kind of diversity. So I think it is important for my students to understand that there’s son, rumba, music for the orisha’s, Harold Gramatges’ music Roberto Valera’s music, Juan Blanco, Van Van, there’s reggaeton, rap. I have the responsibility to show something real, at least to open a window so they can at least know there’s more than one thing. A basis of information is not complete with only two or three points of reference. In Cuba there is an interaction between these musicians and these styles.

Los Hermanos Arangos

2011-07-11T22:16:00.008-04:00

Los Hermanos Arangos performance at Casa Las Americas, Havana, Cuba, May 2011.

During the Berklee Interdisciplinary Arts Institute tour of Cuba, May 2011, we had the privilege to play opposite Los Hermanos Arangos in this concert at Casa Las Americas. Los Hermanos Arangos specialize in Jazz and music of the Yoruba and Abakua traditions in Cuba. The family lives in the Guanabacoa the epicenter of Afrocuban folkloric music in Havana. All chants, rhythms and dances heard in this video are authentic. The addition of horns, piano and bass are in addition and compatible with the traditional elements kept in tact in this performance.

Los Hermanos Arangos' will be visiting Berklee College of Music in September 2011.

Boston’s Berklee College of Music in Cuba

2011-06-25T09:25:00.005-04:00

Juan Blanco was always close
May 10th, 2011, Granma (Cuba's national daily newspaper)

By Michel Hernández

Berklee College of Music has prepared a rigorous program of concerts for their second trip to the island, where they will perform in the international festival Cubadisco 2011 and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the work “Música para Danza,” by Juan Blanco, (1919-2008) electro-acoustic music pioneer of Cuba and Latin America.

Neil Leonard, saxophonist and organizer of this cultural exchange told Granma that a group of students from Berklee, headed by several vice-presidents of this prestigious North American institution will be offering a series of performances during their stay: Sunday, May 15th, 11:00 A.M., at la Sala Dolores de Santiago de Cuba, Tuesday, May 17th, 3:30 P.M. at the Superior Institute of Art and Friday, May 20th, at 7:00 P.M., at the theater of the National Fine Arts Museum.

Leonard, who is a Professor of composition, programming and performance with video explained that the theme for the program is Music and Movement; with shows at the National Theatre, Wednesday, May 18th, 11:00 A.M. along with Danza Contemporánea and on Wednesday at 8:00 P.M. at Casa de Las Américas where the Berklee students will be joined by Los Hermanos Arangos.

Last November Leonard worked with Laboratorio Nacional de Música Electroacústica (LNME) to coordinate the first collaborative concerts of Berklee students with Cuban students that took place on the island. At that time, North-American and Cuban musicians performed a varied collection of songs intertwining imagination and experimental flair including the premiere of the extraordinary work “Nuestro Tiempo” composed by Leonard and students from both countries, honoring Juan Blanco.
“It was extremely valuable for the students to create and perform a piece together. This made it possible for them to collaborate in the deepest sense and share ideas. The public reception was wonderful and it allowed for the sharing of common interests and attitudes towards education and musical interchange.” Leonard expressed.

During the 80’s, Leonard participated in several editions of the International Festival of Electroacoustic Music in Varadero, Cuba, organized by the composer of “Suite Erótica.” “Juan Blanco was a mentor to me. When I started in electroacoustic music I was very interested in his sense of artistic risk. His approach to creating music was very stimulating. The experience of knowing him and his guidance was an inseparable part of my artistic life,” remembers Leonard.

Since then, the US based composer has kept a very close relationship with Cuban cultural events, specially with LNME, an institution which has fostered and important niche for home brew DJ’s within the electronic music scene. “Cuba is known around the world as one of the most important producers of popular musicians, but it has been one of my fundamental objectives to present Cuba to the academic and artistic circles of the United States with a much broader view, in this case as a country with an important history in electronic music.

“After our first residency in Cuba, there was more interest in this project, both in Cuba and Boston. After the two concerts in May, we would like to organize a third visit to take place before the end of the year.”

Leonard enjoys these exchanges with the satisfaction of one who has seen a dream transformed into to reality. “I grew up as a jazz musician surrounded by both jazz and popular music of the U.S., however in order to fully appreciate my native culture it is imperative to know Cuban music. While in Cuba I learned a lot and I always had the dream of visiting with a group of students, little by little the dream is being fulfilled.”

Performances with Dave Bryant and Chris Bowman

2011-06-25T09:11:00.003-04:00

Saturday, June 25 - 7:30 & 9:30 PM

Neil Leonard - reeds 
Dave Bryant - piano
 Don Miller - bass 
Chris Bowman - drums

Jack and Luna's
3928 Main St.
Stone Ridge, NY
845.687.9794  
www.jackandlunas.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sun, June 26, 2011 at 8:00 PM

Dave Bryant - keyboards
Neil Leonard - reeds, electronics
John Turner - bass
Chris Bowman - drums

Outpost 186 1/2 Hampshire Street
Inman Square, Cambridge
zeitgeist-outpost.org

** photo by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons ... Thats my new Yanagisawa Soprano --- super horn!

Boston Cyberarts Festival performance

2011-05-06T22:15:00.001-04:00

La Compañía Danza Contemporánea de Cuba y el Berklee College of Music

2011-05-06T13:37:00.001-04:00

La Compañía Danza Contemporánea de Cuba (DCCuba) y el Berklee College of Music de la ciudad de Boston celebrarán a mediados de Mayo 2011 un Taller Internacional bajo el nombre de Música y Movimiento.

Este encuentro entre jóvenes bailarines y músicos se realizará como parte del II Encuentro entre estudiantes del Berklee College of Music y del Instituto Superior de Arte auspiciado por el Laboratorio Nacional de Música Electroacústica del Instituto Cubano de la Música con la colaboración de Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, la Casa de las Américas, CUBADISCO, entre otros.

El Taller será conducido por el Bailarín y Coreógrafo alemán Andy Zondag y el Profesor Neil Leonard del Berklee College of Music y permitirá comprender la función de la música para la danza contemporánea y cubana y se realizará entre los días 11 y 12 de Mayo con una Presentación del Proyecto (abierta al público previa solicitud) prevista para el día 18 del propio mes a las 2 pm.

Introduction to Los Muñequitos de Matanzas

2011-05-02T16:36:00.000-04:00

Good evening. My name is Neil Leonard. We are extremely fortunate that MassMoCA and Jacob's Pillow have brought Los Muñuquitos de Matanzas to Massachusetts this weekend. When I began to investigate Cuban music in the mid-80s the only way to hear this music was to travel to Cuba. I was one of the few US musicians to make the pilgrimage to Cuba and it changed my life, as well as that of my peers.

Traveling to Matanzas, I could see that Cuban folkloric culture is unlike anything that we know in the US. Matanzas is the cradle of West African culture in Cuba and the Americas for that matter. Los Muñequitos are the living legacy of this culture. We have heard fragments of these roots in salsa, rumba, son and music throughout the Americas. What we will experience tonight is the most authentic expression of this tradition. The rhythms, chants and dances that Los Muñequitos will present have been passed down within their families for generations.

Though the work that you will hear/see tonight originated in Africa, some of the culture and beliefs found in the dances of the Muñequitos no longer exists in this form in Africa today. Africans in Cuba preserved their beliefs as a way of holding on to their identity despite enslavement and in some cases their practice was even endorsed by the Church. During the years of slavery, the Church set up African meeting places, or cabildos, to help the slaves feel more at home. In cabildos, the slaves were permitted to hold African religious rituals at fixed hours on specific holidays.
Los Muñequitos are now passing their legacy down to new communities, not only in Cuba, but in the US. Here, they have attracted a following of dancers, musicians and artist who look to Los Muñequitos to grasp strains the African legacy that they have kept alive.

On behalf of MassMOCA and Jacobs Pillow, please join me in giving our warmest Massachusetts welcome to Cuba's premiere folkloric group, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas!

2011-04-20T11:12:00.000-04:00

Reverberations:

Neil Leonard + Rudresh Mahanthappa

Cutting-edge improvisors premiere "Reverberations," a piece that they co-wrote for two alto saxophones, live audio processing and interactive software.

Thursday, April 21, 8:00 pm
Berklee College of Music,
Electronic Production and Design Recital Hall
22 Fenway Road, Boston, MA

New CD, Marcel's Window - available online next week

2011-04-13T21:01:00.000-04:00

Spring Events, News and Concerts

2011-04-13T20:58:00.003-04:00

My new CD, "Marcel's Window" will be available on-line later this week. "Marcel's Window" features a suite of compositions performed by my quartet: Tom Lawton, piano; Lee Smith, bass; Craig McIver, drums.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday, April 21, 8:00 pm
Berklee College of Music

Neil Leonard/Rudresh Mahanthappa - alto saxophones/live electronics

We will premiere "Reverberations," a piece that I wrote for two alto saxophones, live audio processing and interactive software.

Berklee College of Music
Fenway Recital Hall
22 Fenway Road
Boston, MA 02115
admission: free

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, April 29, 8PM
CyberartsCentral at Atlantic Wharf

Cyberpool, an evening of electro-acoustic improvised music by:
Jorrit Dijktsra - alto sax, analog electronics
Michael Bierylo - cyberguitar
Michael Evans - drums, percussion and
electronics
Ernst Karel - analog electronics
Neil Leonard - sax,
laptop, electronics
Andrew Neumann - laptop, analog electronics
Arvid
Tomayko-Peters - TOOB, laptop, electronics.

CyberartsCentral at Atlantic Wharf
290 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02210
phone: 617-524-2109
www.bostoncyberarts.org
admission: free

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday, April 30, 8pm
Sunday, May 1, 2pm
Jacobs Pillow @ MASS MoCA’s Hunter Center

I will be introducing the Muñequitos de Matanzas' performance "Tambor
de Fuego en Homenaje a los Ancestros."
More info on this event and the Muñequitos can be found at:

http://neilleonard.com/articles/munequitos.htm
http://www.jacobspillow.org

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Monday, May, 2, 8PM
Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church

Dave Bryant Septet:
Dave Bryant - keyboards
Tom Hall - tenor saxophone
Neil Leonard - saxophones and electronics
Curt Newton - drums
Eric Rosenthal - drums
Jeff Song - cello
John Turner - bass

Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church
1555 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
$10 or donation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May 4 , 6PM
Boston Library, Copley Branch
Jazz Week @ the Boston Public Library presents:

"On the Edge: Exploring the Creative Music Scene"
Musicians Dave Bryant, Tom Hall, John Kordalewski, and Neil Leonard
present a conversation about current trends, with performances by the
presenters.

Boston Library
Copley Square, Boston

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tour of Cuba (May 9-23)
concerts in Havana: Teatro Nacional, Universidas de las Artes (ISA),
Museo de Bellas Artes
concerts in Santiago de Cuba: CUBADISCO Interntaional fair
details TBA

March 2011 DownBeat article on my work in Cuba

2011-02-14T17:40:00.003-05:00

Berklee Students Connect with Cuban Counterparts During Havana Visit

Berklee College of Music professor NeilLeonard and four students in his electronic production and design department have broken new ground, not on the Boston campus, but in theCaribbean. Cuban-American relations have loosened up on the cultural front so it’s not as difficult for American artists to travel to the island. The Berklee students and professor landed in Havana last December, not long after Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra made the trip.

Leonard wanted the pupils in his Interarts Ensemble — bassist Kate Bilinski, guitarist JohnHull, singer Julia Easterlin, pianist Enrico de Trizio — to be exposed to what he called “manifestations of interdisciplinary art and those wonderful Cuban artists who work across disciplines.”

The Cuban trip, which Leonard planned with help from the Laboratorio Nacional deMusic Electroacústica, turned out to be successful beyond his expectations.

“I’ve been to Cuba a number of times and had amazing experiences,” he said upon his return to Berklee. “But this was the highlight of my 25 years of encounters with Cubans, all packed into one week, sharing it with young musicians who were making their first contact with Cuba.”

Going in, Leonard was concerned about how well his students would collaborate with students at the prestigious Instituto Superior de Arte(ISA) on pieces intended for a concert, but ultimately, he said there was no problem: “They were ambassadors for the arts and did everything possible to be welcoming and appreciative of the Cubans.”

Under the Havana moon, the students mixed music, dance, poetry and spirituality. A highlight of the ISA show was Bilinski and Hull on iPads manipulating and incorporating samples from the Cubans into the electronic music tradition,especially as ISA has just a fraction of the technology available at Berklee. Hull said, “It was cool to see how interested the ISA students were in the live performance software and controllers we were using.”

Days before a final concert at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Leonard had request•ed of his crew that they become aware of the artistic milieu in Havana.

“I didn’t want them to try to become amateur specialists in Cuban music so much,” Leonard said. “I wanted them to allow themselves to be open to and partially inspired and influenced by the city of Havana.”

Toward that end, de Trizio went to a ceremony held at a castle and taped the shouts of a soldier leading a procession of marchers.

“As a composer, I’m always fascinated by paradoxes,” de Trizio said. “In this case, it’s a march, but the guy screamed a very nice melody then ‘silencio!’ and I ended up writing a lullaby.” As for lyrics, he and Easterlin adapted an Eliseo Diego poem about Havana’s impressive old architecture. “Silencio” turned up as one of the short vignettes written by the students for the Museo concert’s feature piece “Nuestro Tiempo” (“Our Times”).

After that show, the Berklee gang went to thehome of master percussionists the Arango brothers, who were hosting a Yoruban holiday celebration in honor of the deity Chango. “I had chills when the entire patio of musicians erupted in a ritual chorus complete with beautiful harmonies,” Bilinski said.

Of other activities during the hectic week,there was a memorable visit with Chucho Valdés. Ge Trizio tried out his Steinway, with Easterlin singing. Thrilled by their music, Valdés took over on the keys and unleashed his own “Chucho’s Steps.” “We were in his parlor,” Leonard recalled, “listening to Chucho do his thing from three feet away. There’s nothing like that!”

—Frank-John Hadley

Berklee Distinguished Faculy Award

2011-01-13T18:45:00.003-05:00

I am thankful to recieve the Berklee Distinguished Faculy Award along with colleagues JoAnne Brackeen, Greg Hopkins and Ross Bresler. This is a transcript of the the words that I shared on that occasion.

I am honored to receive this award. I would like to thank my colleagues in the MT Division and the EPD department for their support and inspiration. I would also like to thank my Chair, Kurt Biederwolf for his help every step of the way.
The degree to which I am effective as a faculty member is partially a result of the teachers that I had.
I studied saxophone Joe Allard for three years. Joe was sought out by Bill Pierce, Eric Dolphy, Michael Brecker and many more. Everything that Joe said was extremely insightful, remarkably clear. He was very tough without making it feel personal. Now, thirty years later, I still think about what he said every time I pick up the horn.

Later, I studied with composition Bob Brookmeyer for two years. Same deal. The critiques and ideas that he presented were always concrete, often tough, and assumed that you aimed to write at the highest level. Now, despite ten years of daily use, I have not worn out the advice that he shared with me.

I also learn from colleagues here at the college. Not long ago, I watched visiting artist, producer and engineer Nathaniel Kunkle, lecture to one of my classes. He was as insightful, clear and frank as Allard and Brookmeyer. The students sat up straight in their chairs for the duration and barely seemed to blink. Afterwards, I watched students as they left the classroom and I recognized that look on their face. One student said thee words to me as he passed ... "I got it." I knew that this one brief encounter might have changed his life - the puzzle about how to move forward was put together.

These teachers helped change my life. There is nothing more exciting to me than to help our students advance their work as artists, technologists and thinkers. Our connection might be long term, or simply one brief conversation. Either way it might be the tipping point where they grasp the compass that they will use for years to come.

I am grateful to the college and for giving me the opportunity to do this work for our students and grateful to my colleagues for their support and for teaching me.

Thank you.

2010 - Selected Events

2011-01-13T18:20:00.007-05:00

December 10 to December 31, 2010
Dakar, Senegal

IIIrd World Festival of Black Arts & Cultures
Video installation with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

Location and hours TBA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

December 7 & 8 ,11:30am – 1:00pm
Isabel Stewart Gardner Museum

Ana Prvacki - Wandering Band
Featuring
Katie Bilinski - bass
Julia Esterlin - voice
Neil Leonard - saxophones
Christian Li - piano
Rose Seyfried - voice/laptop

The "Wandering Band" is a performance of vocalists and musicians performing on voice, piano, bass and saxophone wandering freely through the Gardner Museum. Conceived by artist Ana Prvacki, the Wandering Band artists will perform their daily practice of exercises, repertoire and improvisation while strolling through the galleries.

Born in 1976, Serbia / Yugoslavia, Prvacki has earned considerable intermational attention in the last decade. In 2009, she was invited to participate in the show “The Girl Effect” at Lombard Freid Projects, New York and to create a series of performaces at Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Turin). She has performed in various international biennials (2008, Sydney Biennial ; 2007, Singapore biennial; 2006 Turin Triennale). She has also participated in group shows such as “25 Years Later: Welcome to Art in General”, New York (2007) . In 2010, upcoming invitations include the Pompidou Center in Paris (“Repetition”) , the Isabella Gardner Museum (Boston) and MONA Tasmanis.

Isabel Stewart Gardner Museum
280 Fenway
Boston, MA 02115, United States
(617) 566-1401
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 27-December 5, 2010
Laboratorio Nacional de Musica Electroacoustica, Havana, Cuba
Neil Leonard and Berklee Interarts Ensemble in residence at the LNME

Concerts:
Wednesday, December 1, - Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA)
Friday, December 3 - Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
(Premiere of collectively authored work "Nuestro Tiempo" featuring Berklee Interarts Ensemble/Cuban students.)

Other performances and open rehearsals TBA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Private concert: solo saxophone/computer/video

Eagle Hill School
Hardwick MA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, November 12th, 2010 - 8:00PM
Fenway Center

Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra by Francisco Noya

Neil Leonard - "Dreaming of an Island"
Gustav Host - "Mars" and "Jupiter" from the Planets
Philip Glass - "Heros"
"Uncharted" - suite from the video game score

The Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra presents the Boston premiere of professor Neil Leonard's multimedia work, "Dreaming of an Island". Neil writes, "'Dreaming of an Island' revisits ideas that I first explored in video/installations with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons. Our work focused on ancient cultural themes, and their impact on contemporary personal narrative.

"The score for 'Dreaming of an Island' draws on West African Yoruba music that Campos-Pons heard as a child in Cuba. Yoruba folkloric melodies and rhythms are heard in combination with ideas from 21st century concert music, electronic music and jazz. The video projection for Dreaming of an Island is a montage created by myself and Magdalena Campos-Pons using a software system of my own design."

Fenway Center
77 Saint Stephen Street
Boston, MA 02115

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 - 7:00PM
Musicacoustica Festival

Concert of works by:
Richard Boulanger, Neil Leonard, Benoit Granier

Central Conservatory of Music
China Center for Computer Music
Beijing, China

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday, October 28, 2010 - 7:00PM
Mako Art Center

Concert of works by:
Richard Boulanger, Neil Leonard, Benoit Granier, Anthony De Ritis, Bruce Gremo, Gerald Chenoweth

Mako Art Center
Inside Hongdian Art Factory,
Courtyard 36, Guangqu Lu, Chaoyang district
Beijing, China

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 23, 2010 - 9:30 PM
Castello Malaspina

Castello in Movimento: Boston/Essen converge for premiere of Interdisciplinary Work on September 25

Castello in Movimento at Castello Malaspina proudly presents the world premiere of a site-specific work featuring large scale video projection and electroacousic sound performance by Berklee College of Music's InterArts Ensemble, directed by Neil Leonard, and students of the Folkwang Hochschule, Essen, Germany. The twenty-minute piece will feature several of Berklee's most outstanding students performing on laptop and processed instruments: voice, electric bass, saxophones. Top students and faculty from the Folkwang Hochschule will project interactive video of processed imagery mapped to the castle’s exterior.

Participants are:
Prof. Neil Leonard (Berklee College of Music, Boston), Project Director
Prof. Claudius Lazzeroni (Folkwang Hochschule, Essen)
John Hull - live audio processing
Katie Bilinski - bass guitar/laptop
Rose Seyfried - voice/laptop
Enrico de Trezio - keyboards/laptop
Steffen Mueller - live video processing
Simon Deeg - live video processing
Marius Tippkaemper - live video processing

Castello Malaspina
54035 Fosdinovo - Massa Carrara, Italia
telefono +39 0187 680013 - 0187 68891
www.castellodifosdinovo.it info@castellodifosdinovo.it

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 23, 2010 - 10:00 PM
Loggiato di Gemmi

Neil Leonard Quintet

Neil Leonard - alto/soprano sax
Giuliano Perin - vibes
Luciano Milanese - bass
Enrico de Trizio - Piano
Matteo Cidale - drums

Loggiato di Gemmi
via Bonaparte 11
Sarzana
tel. 0187620110

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May 13, 14, 3:00PM
Nuits Sonores Festival

Neil Leonard and Transitoire live

May 15, 8:00PM
Nuits Sonores Festival

Neil Leonard - solo saxophone
Michel Doneda/Tetsu Saïtoh - duo

Le Périscope
13 rue Delandine
69002 Lyon, France
http://www.periscope-lyon.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday, May 1, 2010 - 8:00 PM
GASP Gallery/Boston JazzWeek

Dave Tronzo/Bruno Råberg/Neil Leonard Trio

$12 suggested donation, $8 students and seniors

GASP Gallery
362-4 Boylston St., Brookline, MA, 02445
galleryinfo@g-a-s-p.net
617.418.4308

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 7:00 PM
Primavera en Havana: XIII Festival Internacional De Musica Electroacustica

Neil Leonard - saxophones/electronics

Teatro Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Arte Cubano.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday, March 11, 2010 - sets at 8:00 PM and 9:30 PM

VIDEOFORMES 25/25 :: NIGHT WILL NOT FALL
Live Broadcast to the 25th anniversary of VideoFormes international
video art and digital culture festival; Clermont-Ferrand, France

Pierce Warnecke and Max Abeles Duo +
GLOBAL SONIFICATION NETWORK ENSEMBLE
Live sound and video processing
Sound: Pierce Warnecke, Jinku Kim, Enrico de Trizio, Neil Leonard,
Daniel Piccione
Video: Daniel Cevallos, Shane Butler, Merideth Hillbrand

$10 suggested donation, $6 students and seniors

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Berklee College of Music Electronic Production and Design professor Neil
Leonard introduces the Boston premiere of the film
MEREDITH MONK: INNER VOICE
Friday, February 19, 7 pm
Sunday, February 21, 3:30 pm
at the Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Ave., Boston

MEREDITH MONK: INNER VOICE (by Babeth M.VanLoo) As part of the ICA’s ongoing commitment to presenting the best film of art and artists, the ICA features a new documentary about Meredith Monk. A “musician of boundless imagination and vision,” (The Plain Dealer) Monk is a composer, singer, director/choreographer and creator of new opera, music theater works, films, and installations.

Inner Voice follows Monk as she creates her latest piece, Songs of Ascension, a major new work developed in collaboration with renowned artist Ann Hamilton. The film observes Monk’s process from her initial, solitary work to the rehearsal process, seeking the motivation and source of her creative force.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 14, 2010 - 4:00 PM
Panama Jazz Festival

Neil Leonard - saxophones/electronics
Special guests - TBA

Ascanio Arosemena Theater
Panama City, Panama

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 8, 2009 - 8:00 PM
Dave Bryant Ensemble
Amazing Things Arts Center

Dave Bryant - keyboards
Neil Leonard - saxophones and live electronics
Tom Hall - saxophones
Jeremy Van Buskirk - live electronics
Jeff Song - cello and kayagum
John Voit - bass
Curt Newton - drums
Eric Rosenthal - drums

Amazing Things Arts Center
160 Hollis St
Framingham, MA 01701

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 14th, 2009 - January 2nd, 2010
HOPE: YES WE CAN
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Exhibition
Bernice Steinbaum Gallery

Neil Leonard - sound for multimedia installation "My mother told me that I am Chinese"
by Magda Magdalena Campos Pons

Bernice Steinbaum Gallery
November 26 – December 31, 2005
3550 North Miami Avenue, Miami, FL
www.bernicesteinbaumgallery.com

DOM Cultural Center, Russia

2009-12-12T10:45:00.003-05:00

cardiotest with Neil Leonard

2009-12-12T10:38:00.003-05:00

Neil Leonard/David Clark Duo

2009-11-13T06:53:00.001-05:00

40 Years of Jazz at NEC

2009-10-25T16:56:00.004-04:00

October 24, 2009 - 1:30 to 2:45 PM
New England Conservatory Jazz 40th Panel Discussion

A Musician's Toolbox: Marketing, promotion & technology

Alan Ett ‘78MM, (Pres. Alan Ett Music Group – LA)
Neil Leonard '84BM, '00MM composer/performer, Professor at Berklee College of Music
Paul Lipson ’96 ‘99MM (VP of Business Development at Pyramid, an interactive entertainment industry – SF)
Michael Ricci – founder of All About Jazz.com (internet resource)
Moderator: Bob Blumenthal, Marsalis Music, (Former Boston Globe Jazz Critic)

Pierce Hall., St. Botolph Building
New England Conservatory
Boston, MA 02115

GASP Gallery Gala

2009-10-16T21:16:00.002-04:00

Alternative energy - GASP marks five years

MAKING IT HAPPEN: Half a decade in, Campos-Pons and Leonard's gallery stands out as a rare "alternative space" in a Boston art scene that is dominated by commercial and institutional venues.

Fall 2009 Events

2009-09-30T20:02:00.002-04:00

September 30, 2009 - 9:00 PM
Bar Torino
Piero Bittolo Bon, sax/bass
Achille Succi, alto sax, bass clarinet
Neil Leonard, alto and soprano saxes

San Marco 4591 Campo San Luca
Venezia, Italy
041 520 7634
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 1, 2009 - 8:45
Conservatorio C.Pollini

Giuliano Perin-Neil Leonard Sextet
Giuliano Perin - vibes
Neil Leonard - sax
Maurizio Scomparin - trumpet
Marcello Tonolo - piano
Luciano Milanese - bass
Massimo Chiarella - drums

Conservatorio C.Pollini
Auditorium Cesare Pollini
Padova, Italy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 3, 2009 - 9:30

Computer Art Festival, 2009
Auditorium Centro Culturale
Altinate - San Gaetano, Padova, Italy

Musiche per Galileo
Dinu Ghezzo, pianoforte
Neil Leonard, saxofoni
Carlo Meneghini, recitante
Interensemble E-Quartet
Gianpaolo Capuzzo, flauti diritti
Francesco Socal, clarinetti
Marco Pavin, chitarra elettrica
Bernardino Beggio, pianoforte

Programma
Bruno Maderna - Serenata per un Satellite (1969)
Dinu Ghezzo - Last letters (*)
Salvatore Macchia - In silenzio di notte (*)
John Yannelli - When Parallels Rays of Light Converge (*)
Michele Biasutti - Sidereus Nuncius (*)
Neil Leonard - Galilei-Leonard, Double Remix (*)
(*) prima esecuzione assoluta

Free and open to the public
Auditorium Centro Culturale
Altinate - San Gaetano
Padova, Italy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 24, 2009 - 1:30 to 2:45 PM
New England Conservatory Jazz 40th Panel Discussion

A Musician's Toolbox: Marketing, promotion & technology
Alan Ett ‘78MM, (Pres. Alan Ett Music Group – LA)
Paul Lipson ’96 ‘99MM (VP of Business Development at Pyramid, an interactive entertainment industry – SF)
Michael Ricci – founder of All About Jazz.com (internet resource)
Moderator: Bob Blumenthal BOV (Former Boston Globe Jazz Critic)

Pierce Hall., St. Botolph Building
New England Conservatory
Boston, MA 02115
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 26, 2009 - 8:00 PM
Bryant / Leonard / Song / Newton @ Outpost
Dave Bryant - keyboards
Neil Leonard - saxophones and electronics
Jeff Song - cello and kayagum
Curt Newton - drums

Outpost 186 1/2 Hampshire Street
Inman Square, Cambridge, MA
http://www.zeitgeist-outpost.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 29-November 12, 2009

Instytut im. Jerzego Grotowskiego
(Jerzy Grotowski Institute)
International Theater Festival

Me/Dea
An adaptation of Euripides' Medea conceived and performed by
I Pedoni dell' Aria
Music by Cristian Sommaiuolo and Neil Leonard

Rynek-Ratusz 27, 50–101 Wroclaw, Poland
http://www.myspace.com/ipedonidellaria
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 15, 2009, 7:00 PM
Neil Leonard/David Clark Duo

Neil Leonard - solo saxophone/electronics
David Clark - acoustic bass/electronics

Free and open to the public

Berklee College of Music
Fenway Recital Hall
22 Fenway Road, Boston
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 21, 2009
Autumn Moscow Festival of New Music, Russia

Neil Leonard - solo saxophone/electronics

Concert of works by composers from Berklee College of Music and IRCAM
Venue and time: TBA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 22, 2009
DOM Cultural Center, Russia

Neil Leonard - solo saxophone/electronics

Also appearing, Sergey Letov/Maral Yakshieva Duo
http://www.dom.com.ru/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

December 5th, 2009 - 8:00 PM
Dave Bryant Band
Longy School of Music

Dave Bryant - keyboards
Neil Leonard - saxophones and live electronics
Tom Hall - saxophones
Jeremy Van Buskirk - live electronics
Jeff Song - cello and kayagum
John Voit - bass
Curt Newton - drums
Eric Rosenthal - drums

Longy School of Music
1 Follen St, Cambridge, MA‎
(617) 876-0956‎
www.longy.edu

Tra Ealileo e il Futurismo

2009-09-18T07:20:00.002-04:00

Galilei-Leonard, Double Remix (2009)
for saxophone and live electronics
Composed by Neil Leonard
World Premiere

Galilei-Leonard, Double Remix revisits material from two pieces that I composed using the computer as a key resource. The first composition is entitled Partita Tripla con Galilei (2009). While working on this piece I created a library of sounds based on a recording of Vincenzo Galilei's madrigal In Exitu Israel. Individual processed notes from In Exitu Israel are used in the first part of Double Remix to invoke celestial/angelic voices.

The second source is a composition named M87 (1995) from my debut solo CD Timaeus. M87 is named after a giant elliptical galaxy photographed by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope. M87 is believed by some to be a supermassive black hole. The Hubble photos shows a 5000 light-year long jet stream made up of electrons being ejected outward at near light-speed.

Partita Tripla con Galilei was composed in collaboration with Padova based composers Maura Capuzzo, Marco Braggion and coordinated by Nicola Bernardini for the Giornata dell' Ascolto, Padova, 2009. In Exitu Israel was sung by Alessandro Carmignani and used with his kind permission. Parts of the remix of M87 were created with Gadi Sassoon (aka Memory 9) in London, 2008.

Mimi Rabson Is Living in a Post-Bach World

2009-09-04T19:48:00.003-04:00

Berklee instructor commissions new works for solo violin, By James Reel

Neil Leonard says of his contribution, “Mimi’s Metamorphology,” “The piece is a tribute to Mimi’s ability to find links between classical, folk, and jazz traditions. I also wanted to showcase her work in combining interpretation, improvisation, and live electronics. I've followed Mimi's performances for years and I marvel at her ability to learn and adapt in order to play with the unique groups of musicians that she has encountered.

“About 60 percent of the violin part is very precisely notated. The remaining 40 percent is an improvisational recapitulation of those materials. When Mimi performs the work, the audience is unable to determine which parts are notated and which are improvised—where my pen leaves off and her bow continues the musical idea.” —J.R.

These acts are hard to beat

2009-09-04T15:08:00.003-04:00

These acts are hard to beat

These acts are hard to beat

By Bob Young / Jazz/World Preview
Friday, September 4, 2009

World music and jazz presenters are clearly counting on an improved economy to loosen wallets this fall. Look no further for proof than this fall’s ambitious lineup.

Always surprising guitarist Charlie Hunter rolls out his new CD, “Baboon Strength,” on Sept. 11 at the Regattabar in Cambridge. That same night, the quintet Agachiko, with Ken Field and Gabrielle Agachiko, digs into the Nina Simone songbook at Inman Square’s Lily Pad in Cambridge.

Among the hot young voices with club showcases are alto-sax man Benny Reid at the Regattabar on Sept. 29, and clarinetist and composer Darryl Harper’s C3 Project features poetry and dance at Scullers on the same day. Look for back-to-back nights of exploratory sounds at Outpost 186 in Inman Square on Sept. 25 with Strange Guitar, which features groups led by Jeff Platz, Kevin Frenette and Chris Welcome. And on Oct. 26 it’s the foursome of Neil Leonard, Jeff Song, Curt Newton and former Ornette Coleman keyboardist Dave Bryant.

The Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival takes place over nine days in various clubs and venues starting Sept. 18, with Berklee Performance Center shows with Branford Marsalis on Sept. 23, and Kickin’ the Blues with David Sanborn, Kevin Mahogany and Amina Claudine Myers on Sept. 25. The free outdoor, six-block-long party on Columbus Avenue on Sept. 26 is always big fun. Jane Bunnett, Donald Harrison and Melvin Sparks are among this year’s acts.

The annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert is a two-parter (Sept. 26-27), with Saturday’s show at Northeastern’s Blackman Theatre featuring the John Coltrane Memorial Ensemble, and Sunday’s show at Hibernian Hall a smaller group of Syd Smart, Stan Strickland, Laszlo Gardony and others.

New England Conservatory is blowing out the candles on the 40th anniversary of its jazz studies program with major shows, including the Wayne Shorter Quartet with NEC’s Philharmonia on Oct. 24 at Jordan Hall, and the NEC Jazz Summit on Oct. 23 with Fred Hersch, Gunther Sculler, Don Byron, Rachael Price and others.

The Caribbean is represented at Cambridge Carnival on Sept. 13, which kicks off in Kendall Square. Brazil gets fresh takes on the bossa nova Sept. 10 at the Beehive with Joao Marcos and Teresa Ines, and psychedelia Oct. 4 at the Somerville Theatre with Os Mutantes. Brazilian legend Milton Nascimento returns to town at Berklee Performance Center Nov. 15.

Cuban drum sensation Dafnis Prieto gets to showcase his pioneering rhythms as bandleader on Oct. 16 at the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, which will be followed on Nov. 6 by another Rock en Espanol multiband extravaganza.

Other hot shows: the Chicago Afrobeat Project (Johnny D’s, Sept. 30); electro-tango outfit Bajofondo (Paradise, Oct. 1); South African prog rockers BLK JKS (pronounced Black Jacks, T.T. the Bear’s Place, Oct. 4); the Warsaw Village Band (Somerville Theatre, Nov. 6); and Bollywood singer Kailash Kher (Somerville Theatre, Nov. 13).

"Quiero Amanacer" - Neil Leonard remixes Danilo Perez's "Panama Suite"

2009-08-20T11:12:00.001-04:00

"Quiero Amanacer" - Neil Leonard remixes Danilo Perez's "Panama Suite"

Neil Leonard's live remix of Danilo Perez' "Panama Suite." Recorded at the Panama Jazz Festival 2009. Broadcast live on national television. Alfredo Hildrovo - drums Ricaurte Villareal - percussion Fernando Medina - percussion

Bryant/Newton/Leonard/Song @ Outpost

2009-05-30T11:59:00.000-04:00

Sunday 14 June @ Outpost 8pm $10 or b/o

Dave Bryant - piano / Curt Newton - drums / Neil Leonard - sax & electronics / Jeff Song - cello

Concerts & Readings @ OUTPOST 186
186 ½ Hampshire St. Cambridge Ma
617.876.0860 ~ all ages ~ http://www.zeitgeist-outpost.org

Giornata dell' Ascolto 2009

2009-05-24T02:56:00.002-04:00

Partita Tripla con Galilei

2009-04-21T20:55:00.011-04:00

Partita Tripla con Galilei

Azione musicale per altoparlanti ed installazione centrale
Piazza d' Erbe
La Giornata dell’Ascolto
Terza edizione Padova - 24 maggio 2009.

In uno spazio reale e in un tempo immaginario, un raro madrigale di Vincenzo Galilei (compositore rinascimentale, padre del celebre Galileo) viene innestato in un corale di Johann Sebastian Bach, scritto un secolo più tardi, da tre compositori di oggi, seduti attorno al tavolo virtuale di Internet. Nel centro della piazza il mercato dei giorni feriali proseguirà, soltanto con I suoi suoni, durante la tutta la Giornata dell'Ascolto – impermeabile alle elucubrazioni musicali vicine e lontane.

Il madrigale di Vincenzo Galilei è In Exitu Israel cantato in tutte le sue parti da Alessandro Carmignani (per gentile concessione dell'esecutore), il corale di Bach è il primo corale della cantata BWV12 Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, I compositori di oggi sono Maura Capuzzo, Neil Leonard e Marco Braggion coordinati da Nicola Bernardini. L'installazione sonora nel centro della piazza è stata curata da Gil Frison assistito dagli studenti del corso di Tecnico di Sala di Registrazione del Conservatorio C.Pollini di Padova coordinati da Francesco Morosinotto.

Partita Tripla con Galilei

Musical event for loudspeakers and center installation
Piazza d' Erbe
La Giornata dell’Ascolto (Listening Day)
Third edition, Padova - May 24, 2009.

In a real space and in an imaginary time, a rare madrigal by Vicenzo Galilei (renaissance composer and father of the celebrated Galileo) is implanted in a choral by Johann Sebastian Bach, written a century later, by three composers of today sitting around a virtual table via the Internet. In the centre of the piazza the disembodied sounds of the daily market continues during the entire Giornata dell' Ascolto - impermeable to the musical events held in close and distant sites around the city.

The madrigal of Vicenzo Galilei is In Exitu Israel, performed acappella by local singer Alessandro Carmignani (and used with his kind permission). The Bach chorale is the first chorale of the cantata BWV12 Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen. The composers are Maura Capuzzo, Neil Leonard and Marco Braggion coordinated by Nicola Bernardini. The sound installation in the center of the piazza was curated by Gil Frison assisted by the students of the Tecnico di Sala di Registrazione (Music Recording and Engineering program) of the Conservatorio C.Pollini di Padova and coordinated by Francesco Morosinotto.

Computer Music Journal review of Rondo da Passeggio

2009-04-07T22:23:00.008-04:00

Computer Music Journal - Volume 33, Number 1, Spring 2009

PDF version of review by Amalia de Götzen

EXCERPT FROM THE ARTICLE:

According to Mr. Durante:

Its theoretical background (here drastically summarized) is that modern culture provides a superabundance of objects (musical objects in our case) but less and less opportunities for appropriate listening conditions. During the day a number of ''different ways of listening" are offered to the citizens (and visitors) of the city to help them retrieve the very sense (and sensibility) of the act of listening. The musical “repertoire” becomes a function of the psychoacoustic and social processes under way rather than an object of fetishism. In order to reach the goal, a relatively broad range of listening experiences are selected, from Persian poetry of the 13th century sung in the 13th-century City Hall building—the Salone della Ragione, to historical Western repertoire, to newly composed music. This was the case for Rondò da Passeggio, which was especially conceived for the listening conditions of a Paduan portico. (electronic mail communication)

Mr. Durante continues:

The idea to produce a multiple linear installation over a stretch of 350 meters is in itself original, but despite that the event reached the national media in the simplified representation of a curiosum, originality per se was not the goal: more important was the choice of collective composition, one that de-empasized the centrality of egoin the compositional processes of the West (a centrality which significantly runs across both ''high" and ''low" musical cultures). On the other hand the project faced and focused some characteristic problems of post-avant-garde music: the listener ''walked through" music rather than joining the crowd at the concert hall or standing in front of one single installation. In this way the listener defined (or rather interacted with) the form of music according to one's walking speed and/or to the special interest for each individual installation, slowing down, speeding up or stopping. At the same time, the installation compelled the casual passer-by to come to terms with sonorities that did not (probably) belong to his or her daily experience. This represents, in itself, a statement within an urban culture (in Padua as anywhere else) that exposes individuals to the daily violence of sounds “not chosen.” Not least, the project posed compositional problems of interrelationship (formal, stylistic, textural) between different parts of the installation. These problems may have been successfully solved (or possibly less than successfully solved); but beyond this point, most important was that the new problems generated new reflections. Hence, the intention to repeat the experience at the next Giornata dell'Ascolto in 2009. (ibid.)

CMJ Reviews http://204.151.38.11/cmj/reviews/33-1/deGotzen-Padua.html

Apostolos Paraskevas Featured in Performance at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, April 3, 2009

2009-03-12T11:57:00.002-04:00

Grammy-nominated Composer/Concert Guitarist Apostolos Paraskevas Featured in Performance at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, April 3, 2009

A visual as well as musical experience
Apostolos Paraskevas, the Grammy-nominated Greek-born composer and concert guitarist known for his highly theatrical and occasionally irreverent showmanship, returns to Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Friday, April 3, at 8:00 PM. This concert also includes guest artists Eleni Calenos (Soprano), John Muratore (Guitar), Winnie Dahlgren (Vibes), Bahman Panahi (Setar/Tar), Neil Leonard (Soprano Saxophone), the Tantalus Guitar Quartet, the Boston Players string quintet, and Del Lewis (Actor/Narrator), all under the baton of Guest Conductor Francisco Noya. Music on the program will be by Dr. Paraskevas and Guest Composer Anthony Paul De Ritis, who is writing a piece specifically for this production.

About Apostolos Paraskevas
Classical Guitar Magazine/London acknowledged him as the only guitarist ever to have a major orchestral piece performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall, and the international press as the only musician who performed there in a Grim Reaper’s outfit! Dr. Paraskevas, a Lukas Foss protégé of the early 90's, studied with Leo Brouwer and Theodore Antoniou. He has had numerous of his works published, and has many recordings to his credit. As a soloist and composer he collaborated with orchestras around the world. Paraskevas has received five First Prizes in International Composition Competitions. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the International Guitar Congress/Corfu and an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music.

Tickets
To obtain tickets or further information regarding this event, please visit the Distinguished Concerts web site, www.DCINY.org. Tickets can also be purchased by calling the DCINY box office, 212.707.8566, x 307 or directly from the concert venue.

Mitografie del Corpo/Mappe fisiche di spazi immaginari

2009-02-25T22:37:00.004-05:00

March 4, 2009
ore 11,30

CONCERT/CONFERENCE
Mitografie del Corpo
Mappe fisiche di spazi immaginari

Rossella Bonito Oliva
Docente di Filosofia all'Università degli Studi di Napoli L'Orientale

Gennaro Carillo
Docente Storia delle Istituzioni Politiche
Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa

Pedoni dell'Aria
Alessandro de Vita regista drammaturgo
Luca Marra attore cantante
Marina Esposito attrice
Francesca Esposito attrice cantante
Cristian Sommaiuolo musicista

Neil Leonard (Musings for Medea)
Docente di Musica elettronica
Berklee College of Music Boston

Rosario Squillace
Direttore artistico Teatro Stabile Galleria Toledo

http://www.unisob.na.it/eventi/eventi.htm?vr=1&id=5183

World on a string

2009-02-23T20:23:00.002-05:00

World on a string

Boston Globe - February 23, 2009

The violin breaks out into jazz, rock, Latin, funk, hip-hop, and contemporary classical in the capable hands of Mimi Rabson. The Berklee College of Music professor will play pieces for solo violin that she commissioned from Berklee composers. Norman Zocher's "Rock Ethic" grabs inspiration from Bach; Winston L. Maccow's "Tell Me" incorporates jazz chords, rhythmic funk, and fusion; "Canto Iberico" by Victor Mendoza uses Latin American phrasing; Stephen Webber's "Flash Meets Miles" shows off Rabson's percussive style. The violinist will also play two pieces bearing her name - "Mimi's Mood" by Joanne Brackeen and "Mimi's Metamorphology" by Neil Leonard. 7 p.m. Free. The Boston Conservatory, 8 the Fenway, Boston. (March 14 at 5 p.m. at Hingham's South Shore Conservatory.) 617-536-6340. www.bostonconservatory.edu JUNE WULFF

2009-01-27T17:59:00.002-05:00

All About Jazz

The New Year brings a new reason to celebrate every Friday night at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where Art After 5 brings the top names in jazz and international music to the Museum’s elegant Great Stair Hall. Each Friday evening the space becomes a lively concert hall, with table service, cocktails, elegant caf-style appetizers, and desserts. The winter 2009 season features popular favorite artists and several exciting newcomers.

Alto Saxophonist Neil Leonard (February 27) is known for his innovative yet accessible approach to composition and improvisation, combining soulful ballads with electronic and synthetic sounds to create a rich, complex musical landscape. In addition to performing with the Boston Ballet, Hiram Bullock, Don Byron, Frank Lacy, Uri Caine, Orlando Cachaito Lopez (Buena Vista Social Club), John Medeski and many others, Leonard has been collaborating with visual artists for two decades, and is widely recognized as an expert in music for multimedia. He has created sound for installations at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Kitchen in New York, the Seattle Art Museum, and Boston Museum of Fine Arts. His compositions have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Banff Festival for the Arts, and the International Computer Music Convention. Leonard is an Associate Professor in the Music Synthesis Department at Boston’s Berklee College of Music.

Clinics @ Panama Jazz Festival

2009-01-09T15:09:00.004-05:00

PRE-INSCRIPCIÓN ABIERTA
PRE-INSCRÍBETE YA! enviando un e-mail con tu nombre y numero de teléfono a inscripcion@amplificapanama.org o 6618-1299

Los siguientes talleres, charlas y clínicas se lleverán a cabo en el Teatro Ascanio Arosemana de la ACP.

Taller de Sampling alrededor de la ciudad de Panama.
Dirigida por Prof. Neil Leonard de Berklee College of Music
Fechas: Lunes 12 y Martes 13 de Enero.

Clínica de introducción al Diseño de Sonido, Producción Electrónica y Síntesis Musical
Dirigida Por Prof. Neil Leonard de Berklee College of Music
Fecha: Miércoles 14 de Enero.

Clínica de Remezcla
Dirigida Por el Prof. Neil Leonard de Berklee College of Music
Fecha: Viernes 16 de Enero

Four Boston-Area Concerts, February 16 – March 14

2009-01-08T16:57:00.005-05:00

MASTER VIOLINIST MIMI RABSON DEBUTS THE BERKLEE VIOLIN SOLOS
A bold new collection of newly commissioned solo repertoire for 21st century violin

“Dazzling violin phenom” (Boston Globe) MIMI RABSON will premiere newly commissioned work for solo violin by renowned Berklee College of Music composers in four Boston-area concerts, February 16 – March 14. The new body of music showcases the violin’s new voice in the 21st century, embodying contemporary genres, technology, and urban street cred. The composers commissioned by Rabson include jazz great JOANNE BRACKEEN, Latin vibraphonist VICTOR MENDOZA, interactive composer NEIL LEONARD, turntable guru STEPHEN WEBBER, jazz/funk bassist WINSTON MACCOW, and guitar luminary NORM ZOCHER. The works draw from jazz, funk, rock, Latin, hip-hop and contemporary classical music, and utilize improvisation, effects pedals, new performance techniques, and interactive computer performance.

The collaboration between this unique group of composition masters and world-class violinist Rabson produces a new musical vocabulary for the violin that bends genres and redefines the role of the contemporary violinist. She’ll be premiering the Berklee Violin Solos:

Monday, Feb. 16
Longy School of Music Jewett Hall of First Church, Cambridge, MA
10 a.m. President’s Day. Free and open to the public. 617-876-0956, www.longy.edu

Thursday, Feb. 19
Berklee College of Music David Friend Recital Hall, Boston, MA
7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. (617) 266-1499 www.berklee.edu
921 Boylston Street in the Uchida Building

Monday, Feb. 23
The Boston Conservatory 8 The Fenway, Boston, MA
7 p.m. Free and open to the public. (617) 536-6340 www.bostonconservatory.edu

Saturday, March 14 South Shore Conservatory 1 Conservatory Drive, Hingham, MA
5 – 6 p.m. Free to SSC students; non-SSC students: $10. (781) 749-7565

Fall '09, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA

Mimi Rabson has distinguished herself as one of Boston's most creative and versatile musicians. She appears regularly in classical, jazz, klezmer and other eclectic performances and frequently leads her own ensembles. She is a first-prize winner of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in composition for 2003. She was a founding member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band and worked with that organization for many years touring, recording, composing and acting as musical director. Rabson appeared with Itzhak Perlman on “The Late Show with David Letterman" and was featured in a documentary about Klezmer music called "A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden". Ms. Rabson served as musical director to academy award winner, Joel Grey in his production of “Borschtcapades ‘94”. Her composition "Klezzified" was featured on Saturday Night Live.

Rabson's other performance credits include the premiere of “Fresh Faust” by Leroy Jenkins, the soundtrack for the award winning film “Sensorium” by Karen Aqua, the Boston Gay Men's Choir, the Boston Camarata, the New England Ragtime Ensemble, the Klezmatics, Sabana Blanca, Abby Rabinovitz, Deborah Henson-Conant, the Pablo Ablanedo Octet, and XLCR. She has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion twice, at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Wolf Trap, the Mann Center, the Place des Arts in Montreal and at many other world class venues. Ms. Rabson is an Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music.

Jazz Magazine

2008-12-12T08:39:00.002-05:00

Neil Leonard Quartet at Philadelphia Art Museum

2008-11-18T13:27:00.004-05:00

Neil Leonard Quartet performs "Sonic Memories In/Site" and other new works.

In 2007 Leonard and Cuban born artists Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons were commissioned by Philagrafika to create music and a multimedia installation to celebrate the renovation of the Paul Robeson House in West Philadelphia. Leonard composed "Sonic Memories In/Site" for an all-star group of Philadelphia jazz veterans and premiered the work in Robeson's home. This February, Leonard returns to Philadelphia to perform this suite and other new works at PMA and to record this music for an upcoming CD. A native of Philadelphia, Leonard spent his formative years playing in groups with local greats Odean Pope, Robin Eubanks, Bobby Zankel, Byard Lancaster, Tom Lawton, Jymmie Merritt and Uri Caine. Since then Leonard has lived and worked in Boston, Cuba and Italy. Leonard's upcoming performances include Carnegie Hall, Galleria Toledo, (Naples), and the Panama Jazz Festival.

February 27, 2009
Philadelphia Art Museum
Art After 5
Neil Leonard - woodwinds
Tom Lawton - piano (Dave Douglas, Don Byron)
Lee Smith - bass (Mongo Santamaria, Cedar Walton, Roberta Flack)
Craig McIver - drums (Max Roach M-Boom, Odean Pope)

February 28/29, 2009
Recording session with same group.

Performance at Carnegie Hall with Apostolos Paraskevas

2008-11-17T20:46:00.005-05:00

I will be featured on Paraskevas' A Night With The Aristocrats for soprano saxophone, acoustic guitar and string quintet.

PRESENTED BY DISTINGUISHED CONCERTS INTERNATIONAL:

APOSTOLOS PARASKEVAS, GUITAR/COMPOSER

Distinguished Concerts Artist Series

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
Friday, April 3, 2009 at 8 PM

6th Annual Panama Jazz Festival

2008-11-17T20:17:00.005-05:00

6th Annual Panama Jazz Festival Set For January 12-17, 2009, Founder/Artistic Director Danilo Perez Announces

The Wayne Shorter Quartet and legendary pianist Chucho Valdes are among the headliners for the extraordinary Panama City-based festival, which includes performances, an extensive array of workshops and master classes, and auditions for admission and scholarships to several major music schools. Tickets go on sale December 1st.

Richmond, CA (Billboard Publicity Wire/PRWEB ) November 13, 2008 -- American jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter's acclaimed quartet with Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade, and the legendary Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés are among the headliners at the 6th annual Panama Jazz Festival, which will take place in Panama City January 12 through 17, 2009. The Boston-based Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez, who founded the festival in 2003 and whose Danilo Perez Foundation coordinates its educational component, anticipates more than 16,000 attendees.

"The Panama Jazz Festival has been a magical journey to a dream we've had for years in Panama," says Perez. "We, as a country, see the entire world pass through the Panama Canal every day, and we are honored to be the bridge of the Americas. But today, we are proud to say that every year--for the past six years--the Panama Jazz Festival has been the national event where the world does not pass by, but makes a stop in our wonderful land. The world's best jazz artists, as well as students and volunteers from all over the globe, unite in Panama with one goal in mind: to celebrate the world's diversity through jazz."

For the fourth consecutive year, the Panama Jazz Festival will offer clinics and courses on music technology under the auspices of the Berklee College of Music Production and Engineering Department (MP&E) and Music Synthesis Department (MS). Courses on recording, mixing, and live sound will be presented by Rob Jaczko, Chair of MP&E; Alejandro Rodriguez, Associate Professor of the MP&E Department; and Neil Leonard, Chair of Berklee's Music Synthesis Department.

Upcoming recording by Quadraphonnes

2008-11-17T20:14:00.002-05:00

Quadraphonnes saxophone quartets will be including my piece 4151 Walnut on their debut CD. More info TBA.

Chelsea Luker- Soprano/Alto Sax
Mary Sue Tobin- Soprano/Alto Sax
Michelle Medler- Tenor sax
Mieke Bruggeman- Baritone Sax

Recording EP with Oren Fader

2008-11-08T12:02:00.003-05:00

In December I will be recording an EP of guitar music with NY based guitar virtuoso Oren Fader.

Oren Fader's web site

Oren Fader is active as a performer of both traditional and contemporary classical guitar repertoire. Reviewing his solo New York City recital, Guitar Review magazine stated: "His scholarship, technique, and intelligent musicianship are plainly evident and the beauty of his tone is consistently compelling." As Nylon Review wrote in a recent online interview, Mr. Fader “seems to have his hand in just about everything interesting.”

He has performed hundreds of concerts in the United States, Europe, and Asia with a wide range of classical and new music groups, including the Met Chamber Ensemble, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York City Opera, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Mark Morris Dance Group, New World Symphony, Absolute Ensemble, Poetica Musica and Speculum Musicae. As a member of the award- winning new music ensembles Cygnus, Fireworks, and Glass Farm, he has premiered more than 100 solo and chamber works with classical and electric guitar, including compositions by Babbitt, Wuorinen, Machover, Biscardi, Currier, Naito, Pollock, and many others. Recent highlights include a performance of Boccherini "Fandango" Quintet with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the "Aranjuez" Concerto at Brooklyn College. Mr. Fader can be heard on over 20 commercial recordings and film; his work is featured in the classical guitar parts for the recent film Everything is Illuminated. Bridge Records recently released the Cygnus Ensemble's second CD, Gone for Foreign, and next fall the Anderson/Fader guitar duo will release a CD with music written for them, including works by Wuorinen, Lang, Rokeach, and Johnson. Mr. Fader’s latest solo recordings include Another's Fandango, featuring 500 years of guitar music, and First Flight, containing 10 premiere solos written for Mr. Fader by New York City composers. Guitar Review's recent review noted that his skill, “particularly his conductor-like understanding, is palpable on every track." Oren Fader is member of the Manhattan School of Music guitar and chamber music faculty.

Juan Blanco remembered in the Miami Herald

2008-11-07T17:05:00.002-05:00

Posted on Fri, Nov. 07, 2008
Cuban composer who was innovator

By DANIEL FERNANDEZ
EL NUEVO HERALD

Cuban composer Juan Blanco, a pioneer of Latin American electro-acoustic music, died Wednesday in Havana of respiratory failure. He was 89. Blanco died at Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, where he was being treated for kidney problems and hypertension.
Born in Mariel, Cuba, in 1919, Blanco established himself early as a defender of experimental music without forsaking the sensibility of traditional Cuban sounds. He defined himself as the inheritor of modern Cuban composers such as Alejandro Garcia Caturla and Amadeo Roldan.

Blanco composed more than 160 works that have been interpreted by the National Symphonic Orchestra of Cuba and by soloists such as Paquito D'Rivera, Leo Brower, Merceditas Valdes and Tata. He also composed pieces for television, movies, ballet and outdoor performances.

Neil Leonard III, a performer and authority on music for multimedia, wrote of Blanco in 1991: ``The fact is that the music of Blanco is Cuban music. He cannot get away from Cuban music. Regardless of his selection of instruments or themes . . . he could base a piece on an Asian theme, and it would still be Cuban music. He is Cuban -- deeply Cuban, in the purest sense of the philosophy represented by idiosyncrasy of a Cuban people.''

During the 1960s, Blanco was music director of the Cuban National Council for Culture. In that position he opposed censorship of foreign music, especially from the United States.

Although he could not teach officially at a government institution for several decades, he organized vanguard concerts out of a small studio at the Cuban Institute for Friendship with People that influenced new generations of composers, such as Juan Piñera and his own son, Juan Marcos Blanco.

In 1981, he established the International Festival of Electro-acoustic Music that was entitled Springtime in Varadero.

During the 1990s, Blanco continued his musical experimentation with the use of computers. His studio was renamed as the National Laboratory of Electro-acoustic Music. Various institutions commissioned pieces of music from him, allowing him to travel throughout Europe, Latin America and China. In 1993, he presented several of his compositions in Boston.

In 2002, Blanco was awarded the Cuban National Prize for Music.

He had six children, two of whom live in Miami.

In memory of Juan Blanco (1919-2008)

2008-11-05T17:30:00.005-05:00

En el dia de hoy, a las 10:50 am falleció a los 92 años producto de un paro respiratorio, el Maestro Juan Pedro Blanco Rodriguez, pionero de la música electroacústica en América y fundador y director del Laboratorio Nacional de Música Electroacústica.
Su cadáver estará tendido en la funeraria de Calzada y K y el entierro se efectuará mañana a las 9:00 de la mañana.

Juan Pedro Blanco Rodriguez, aged 92, pioneer of electroacoustic music in America, as well as founder and director of the National Electroaocustic Music Laboratory, passed away today in Havana at 10:50 am due to a respiratory arrest.
His burial will take place tomorrow morning at the Cemetery Cristobal Colon in Havana.

Neil Leonard's articles on Juan Blanco

Teaching Music at the College Level Seminar at New England Conservatory

2008-11-04T14:10:00.005-05:00

Teaching Music at the College Level
Thurs. Nov. 6: 6-7:30 pm Keller room

Do you really NEED a Doctorate?
What are the types of schools that need music faculty?
What kinds of jobs are available?
Come to the workshop and find out:
What employers look for
How to make your applications competitive
How to gain experience now
Cover letters, CVs, interview strategies and more!

About the panelists:

Neil Leonard works as a sound artist, composer and saxophonist. His ensemble featured Marshall Allen, Bruce Barth, Don Byron, Robin Eubanks and Uri Caine. Leonard’s Dreaming of an Island, (for orchestra, electronics and live-video) was premiered by Kirk Trevor and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Leonard's composition Totems was premiered at Carnegie Hall. His Echoes and Footsteps was featured by the Tel Aviv Biennial for New Music, Issue Project Room (NYC) and the Auditorium di Roma. Leonard's collaborative work with visual artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons was featured by the 49th Venice Biennial, Museum of Modern Art (NYC); purchased by the National Gallery of Canada; and presented by the U.S. State Department at Dakar Biennial. Leonard composed the music for Relatives, by Tony Oursler and Constance DeJong featured by the Whitney Biennial. Leonard is co-owner of Gallery Artist Studio Project in Boston. In the past year Leonard organized two festivals of electronic music with concerts in Rome, Venice, La Spezia, Siena, Tel Aviv, Haifa, New York and Boston. Leonard is Interim Chair of the Music Synthesis Department and Professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He taught sound installation at the University of Padova and the C. Pollini Conservatory, Italy. He has taught courses in electronic music and multimedia at Northeastern University, Massachusetts College of Art and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.

Pianist Deborah Nemko is on the faculty at Bridgewater State College and also teaches in the NEC Preparatory program. She appears in concerts throughout the United States and Europe as both soloist and collaborative artist. In 2002 she performed the Belgian debut of Diane Goolkasian Rahbee's Sonata No. 2 in the Vresse sur Semois International Festival for Pianists and appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall in Rahbee's Concert in a retrospective of her compositions in 2004. Her performance of Rahbee's Preludes from her compact disc Preludes and Toccatinas was featured on Radio Mona Lisa, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and on The Classical Discoveries Radio Program, Princeton. A champion of contemporary music, composers Dianne Rahbee, Scott Brickman and Justin Rubin have written works for her. Dr. Nemko is a frequent adjudicator for the New England Conservatory Preparatory Program's Concerto Competition, the Music Teachers National Association Arizona, and Massachusetts State Competitions. Much in demand for her teaching as well as performances, she has conducted master-classes at Buffalo State College, Chapman University, and at Greenfields Chamber Music Institute, Vermont. She is currently on the faculty of the New England Conservatory's Piano Preparatory Program. Dr. Nemko regularly presents papers and lecture recitals at the International Conference on Arts and Humanities, the International Festival of Women Composers, the College Music Society National and Regional Conferences, MTNA National Conference and the Schubert Club. Dr. Nemko was on the faculty of the International Piano Week, Belgium, from 2001-2005. She is currently the president of the Northeast Region of the College Music Society.

Oliver Chamberlain is the former co-chair of the Composition and History Department in theCollege of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University and the former Executive Director of the Center for the Arts at the Universityof Massachusetts Lowell. Chamberlain has been president of New England Presenters, Merrimack Lyric Opera and Indian Hill Music Center. He has helped a number of people edit their applications, including his own daughter who has just begun the position of associate production manager at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. He gained experience in teaching, publishing, directing and performing before applying to a university. He has coached people prepare cover letters, CVs and interviews. He has been published on the subjects of medieval motets, computer projection of arts center revenue, arts marketing and pricing the performing arts. He holds graduate degrees in Choral Conducting from NEC, in Music History from Brandeis University and in Arts Administration from the American University in Washington, D. C. He has interests in collecting American art glass, designing gardens and is a prize-winning photographer.

Eric Hewitt serves as the music director and conductor of The Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble, as well as chair of the woodwind department. He also serves as music director and conductor of the White Rabbit avant-garde ensemble, which is the ensemble-in-residence at Harvard University, and the Charles River Wind Ensemble in Watertown, MA. As a saxophonist, Eric Hewitt has presented critically acclaimed premieres by Luciano Berio, Gunther Schuller, Christian Lauba, and dozens of young and up-and-coming composers. He has been a soloist with nine Boston area ensembles, including the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the FROMM Players at Harvard, and the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble and has been featured as soloist on tours to Japan, Venezuela, and Cuba. He is also a member of the Radnofsky Saxophone Quartet. Mr. Hewitt recorded the Donald Martino Saxophone Concerto in piano reduction (previously unreleased), working with Dr. Martino at the sessions, and has recorded the saxophone quartet music of Iannis Xenakis and Franco Donatoni. He was a member of the Ryles Jazz Orchestra from 2000 until 2004 and performed with jazz legends such as Arturo Sandoval, John Faddis, Bob Brookmeyer, Ed Calle, George Garzone, Frank Vardarous, Jerry Bergonzi, Slide Hampton, George Russell, Marvin Stam, and Phil Wilson.

Panama Jazz Festival

2008-11-04T12:06:00.002-05:00

Panama Jazz Festival Site

I will be performing in and teaching at the Panama Jazz Festival, Jan. 12-17, 2009.

Other participants include:

Wayne Shorter, Johnn Patitucci, Danilo Pérez, Brian Blade, Chucho Valdés, Marco Pignataro, Eddie Gómez, Billy Drummond, Luba Mason, Hubert Laws, Rubén Blades.

I Pedoni dell' Aria presents Medea

2008-10-31T12:23:00.004-04:00

I will be performing with the Italian group I Pedoni dell' Aria in an adaptation of Euripides' Medea. The work will be featured by Galleria Toledo, Napoli.

5e6 marzo 2009________________Prima Nazionale

Galleria Toledo
Teatro Stabile d'Innovazione (Napoli)
Via concezione a montecalvario 34
Ore 21:00

Me/ dea è un viaggio nel corpo di un uomo e non di una donna. Me/dea è Euripide/Seneca/IO. È il continuo di un percorso sull’assassinio di sé, sulla necessità dell’eliminazione del sentimento a favore del proprio egotismo. Cannibalismo del cuore per il cuore, Me/Dea è un padre che compra pace col sangue, che lega il silenzio al rumore assordante dei propri respiri che ora dopo ora meditano la strage.

È un antichissimo mito che si ripete nel tempo e nei modi, ma questa volta riscritto, drammatizzato e reso exemplum. È la possibilità di perdersi nella “sragione” ; nella vecchia stanza della propria memoria tutto è ricomposto in modo malsano e pericoloso. La realtà è immaginazione per l’ ennesima volta. Il prezzo della propria rivolta è lo stesso sangue generato e lasciato decomporre nella terra in cui sarà sepolto.

L’ orrore cieco dell’insensibilità che non ha colpe perché vive al di là dell’agire. La mia Me/Dea è la breve storia illustrata della capitolazione dell’ altro, divismo crudele di un cuore bucato
e ingordo.

Con :
Lucio De Cicco
Luca Marra
Francesca Esposito
Marina Esposito

Testo/regia/Video
Alessandro De Vita

Musiche
Cristian Sommaiuolo
Neil Leonard

Scene e supporto tecnico
Raffaele Galiero

Grafica e artwork
Teresa Orazio

Dave Bryant Quartet

2008-10-27T22:23:00.004-04:00

This is a review of a concert review of the Dave Bryant Quartet by composer Jim Ricci:

Dave Bryant Quarte @ Outpost

Dave Bryant – keyboards
Neil Leonard – reeds and electronics
Jane Wang – bass
Curt Newton – drums

Saturday, October 25, 2008
Outpost 186
186 1/2 Hampshire Street
Inman Square

Concert @ University of Wyoming

2008-09-22T10:59:00.001-04:00

Berklee Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship

2008-09-09T20:46:00.003-04:00

Farewell to Post-Colonialism

2008-09-01T22:41:00.004-04:00

Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou

Guangdong Museum of Art
38 Yanyu Road, Er-sha dao, Guangzhou, China
Tel: 86 (20) 87351261
Email: gztriennial@gdmoa.org
Website: http://www.gdmoa.org/
When: 6/9/2008 - 16/11/2008
Where: Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou
Region: Asia/East/Pearl River Delta
Country: China

Participating artists: Cláudia Cristóvão (Angola/Portugal/ the Netherlands), feld72 (Austria), Christian Jankowski (Germany), Daniel Malone (New Zealand), Carlos Garaicoa Manso (Cuba), Zarina Bhimji (UK), Ecke Bonk (Germany), Jean-Philippe Toussaint(France), Thembinkosi Goniwe (South Africa), Matts Leiderstam (Sweden), Tank TV (UK), Georges Adéagbo(Benin), Maria Thereza Alves (Brazil/USA), Conrad Botes (South Africa), Matthew Buckingham (USA), Lyn Carter (Canada), Maria Magdalena Compos-Pons&Neil Leonard (Cuba/USA), Joseph DeLappe (USA), Allan deSouza (Kenya/USA), Dilomprizulike (Nigeria), Maria Eichhorn (Germany), Mary Evans (Nigeria/UK), Tamar Guimaraes (USA/Danmark/Brazil), Sharon Hayes (USA), Kiluanji Kia Henda (Angola), Michelle Heon (Canada) Nicholas Hlobo (South Africa), John Kelly (Australia), Lin + Lam (USA/Canada), Hew Locke (UK), Felipe Mujica (Chile/USA), Vik Muniz (USA/Brazil), Mario Navarro (Chile), Uriel Orlow (UK/Switzerland), Steve Ouditt (Trinidad), Amilcar Packer (Brazil), Jenny Perlin (USA), Khaled Ramadan& Larissa Sansour (Lebanon), Hans Hamid Rasmussen (Norway), Neo Rauch (Germany), Josephine Starrs & Leon Cmielewski (Australia), Althea Thauberger (Canada), Barthélémy Toguo (Cameron/France), Gabriel Acevedo Velarde (Lima), Dalia Al-Kury (Jordan), Yasmina Ben Ari (Egypt), Mireille AstorE (Libanon), Reem Bader (Jordan), Kaya Behkalam (Iran), Alia El Bialy (Egypt), Hisham Bizri (Libanon), Shahram Entekhabi (Iran), Lamia Joreige (Libanon), Khaled Kafez (Egypt), Gülsün Karamustafa (Turkey), Nadine Khan (Egypt), Shula Lipski (Libanon), Waheeda Malullah (Bahrain), WaëL Noureddine (Libanon), Ahmet Ogut (Turkey), Ayman Ramadana (Egypt), Hamed Sahihi (Iran), Larissa Sansour ( Palestine / USA), Silke Schmickl (Germany), Rania Stephan (Libanon), Wooloo Productions (Denmark), Nanna Guldhammer Wraae (Denmark), Akram Zaatari (Libanon), Marc Behrens (Germany), Jens Brand (Germany), Werner Herzog (Germany), Kristina Ask (Denmark), Daniel Andersson (Finland), Avi Alpert (USA), Eric Anglès (France/USA), Ricardo Cuevas (Mexico), Asa Elzen (Sweden), Tamar Guimaraes (USA/Danmark/Brazil), Carla Herrerra-Prats (USA/Mexico), Jesal Kapadia (USA/India), Runo Lagomarsino (Sweden/Argentina), Steven Lam (USA), Erin Ming Lee (USA), Sarah Lookofsky (Denmark/USA), Kasper Akhøj (Denmark), Sreshta Rit Premnath (USA/India), Rebecka Thor (Sweden), Edward Schexnayder (USA), Dorothee Albrecht (Germany), Moira Zoitl (Austria), Daniela Comani (Italy), Different Voices (Nepal/Denmark/Sweden), Dreams of Art Spaces Collected (Transnational artistic group project), Stina Edblom (Sweden), Thomas Locher (Germany), Elke Marhoefer (Germany), Giancarlo Pazzanese (Chile), Oda Projesi (Turkey), Reynold Reynolds (USA), Asa Sonjasdotter (Sweden), Mayling To (UK), UNWETTER (Transnational artistic group project), Pablo Wendel (Germany)

This is a quote from a Blog by Thembinkosi Goniwe. I am presenting work in this show with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons.

Thembinkosi Goniwe's blog

The Third Guanzhou Triennial, which will run from September 6th to November 16 2008, has proposed to say ‘Farewell to Post-Colonialism’. This proposition denotes the theoretical basis from which the curatorial team and participating artists, intellectuals, critics and scholars intend to explore their critical vision in revising post-colonialism. Driving this undertaking is an observation that post-colonialism has become defunct as a critical tool in spite of its significance and incentive as an intellectual tradition that has been crucial in criticizing political conditions. Argued is that, “in the real world, the political conditions criticised by post-colonialism have not receded, but in many ways are even further entrenched under the machinery of globalisation.” As such, “as a leading discourse for art curatorial practice and criticism, post-colonialism is showing its limitations in being increasingly institutionalized as an ideological concept. Not only is it losing its edge as a critical tool, it has generated restrictions that hinder the emergence of artistic creativity and fresh theoretical interface.”

There is no doubt that the ever changing social circumstances of contemporary society, particularly of the post-colonial worlds, require updated critical tools. Required is a need for sharp and reflective critical consciousness necessary to dealing with oppressive regimes and the machinery of capitalist globalisation that affect lives of people in dehumanizing ways. Yet critical consciousness at the level of theoretical articulation is not enough without practical action, without pragmatic ends. In fact, artistic theory without practical ends is as useless as artistic productions that are self-referential, self-serving in their obsession with high theory, in their circulation within elitist institutions mainly accessible to and accessed by schooled classes.

I therefore ask, what is the role of visual arts in society? How can visual arts affect people’s lives in ways that create hope? What economies and agencies do visual arts have in dealing with the rapid pace of changing social, political and economical conditions in societies under the stress of inter-nationalisms and trans-nationalisms? Other poignant questions: what is the point of initiatives or events such as biennales and triennials to the meaning of people’s life in their everyday social practices? Is the role and impact of creative arts and intellectual thoughts effective enough to contribute practical changes for the betterment of peoples’ lives in society, and how so or in what ways? Are museums and galleries effective sites for such practical changes for the betterment of peoples’ lives, peoples who are not privileged to bourgeoisie or affluent lifestyle around which contemporary art revolves?

A Power Stronger Than Itself

2008-08-07T08:24:00.006-04:00

A Power Stronger Than Itself - view on Amazon

I am now reading "A Power Stronger Than Itself - The AACM and American Experimental Music" by friend and mentor George Lewis. I was pleasantly surprised to see my name in the acknowledgements.

I last heard George when he was in Boston playing on one of Steve Lacy's final concerts. Both Lacy and Lewis were astounding! I took this photo at Decordova Museum to see a show that included my wife's photography. Here we are - George, Magdalena and Arcadio.

Sharpening the Cutting Edge

2008-08-07T08:16:00.006-04:00

Dear friends,

I just wanted to let you know about some of the work I did in Europe this summer. The Berklee's Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship was one of the sponsors.

Best wishes,
Neil Leonard

The article in its entirety is posted here:
Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship Grants: Sharpening the Cutting Edge
by Susan Gedutis Lindsay

Sharpening the Cutting Edge - online

55 Workshop/Performance, Essen, Germany

2008-07-07T14:56:00.003-04:00

The Third Guangzhou Triennial

2008-07-04T13:43:00.003-04:00

I will be presenting a work with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons. Details TBA.

The Third Guangzhou Triennial will open from September 6th to November 16th, 2008 in Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China. Opening preview will be on September 6th, 2008. The Curatorial Committee includes Gao Shiming, Sarat Maharaj and Johnson Chang Tsong-zung.

Farewell to Post-Colonialism

For the curatorial discourse of this Triennial, we propose to say ‘Farewell to Post-Colonialism’. This represents the theoretical basis from which we hope to explore our critical vision. ‘Farewell to Post-colonialism’ is not a denial of the importance and rewards of this intellectual tradition; in the real world, the political conditions criticised by post-colonialism have not receded, but in many ways are even further entrenched under the machinery of globalisation. However, as a leading discourse for art curatorial practice and criticism, post-colonialism is showing its limitations in being increasingly institutionalised as an ideological concept. Not only is it losing its edge as a critical tool, it has generated its own restrictions that hinder the emergence of artistic creativity and fresh theoretical interface. To say ‘Farewell to Post-Colonialism’ is not simply a departure, but a re-visit and a re-start.

2008-07-04T04:12:00.007-04:00

11. Juli 2008
20:00 Uhr
Alte Aula
Media | Music | Design | Interaction
Workshopkonzert

Neil Leonhard, Saxophonist, Komponist und Lehrer am Berklee College of Music, USA, und Studierende seiner Klasse

Folkwang Studierende der Klassen Prof. C. Lazzeroni, Kommunikationsdesign | Interface Design, Prof. Th. Neuhaus, Musikinformatik, und Prof. D. Hahne, Komposition und Visualisierung das Konzert findet statt im Rahmen des Workshops Media | Music | Design | Interaction“ der vom 7. bis 11. Juli an der Folkwang Hochschule angeboten wird – das Ergebnis der interdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit wird im Workshopkonzert präsentiert

Folkwang Hochschule
Klemensborn 39
45239 Essen
Telefon: 0201_4903_0 Telefax: 0201_4903_288

www.folkwang-hochschule.de

“ReVisioning the (W)hole II: Curious Intersections

2008-06-17T09:40:00.004-04:00

I will present music and give a talk at “ReVisioning the (W)hole II: Curious Intersections”:
University of Wyoming
September 23-25, 2008

The event was organized by Margaret Wilson, Meg Van Baalen-Wood, Margaret Haydon and Mark Sheridan Rabideau based around the concepts of Curiosity, Creativity, and Collaboration.

Mark Sheridan Rabideau does a wonderful job of articulating many of the themes of the conference in the interview below. This is one quote that really hit home for me as both an artists and teacher!

"What students learn while actualizing their ideas, on any scale, is that failure is an inevitable consequence of the act of invention, that tenacity and resilience are required throughout the process, and that the world can be changed in ways big and small."

arts entrepreneurship educator's network

Juan Blanco's Espacios V in Daniel Langlois Foundation Latin American Electroacoustic Music Collection

2008-06-12T17:29:00.012-04:00

Composer Ricardo Dal Farra worked for twenty five years to compile the Daniel Langlois Foundation Latin American Electroacoustic Music Collection. It is an amazing archive of recordings, biographies, interviews, scores and pictures.

Included are many works by Juan Blanco (Cuba), one of the founding fathers of electronic music in Latin America.

Daniel Langlois Foundation Latin American Electroacoustic Music Collection

I play on this work by Blanco:

Juan Blanco, Espacios V, 1986; Recording time: 11 min 42 s.
Instruments: Tape and sax; Neil Leonard, soprano and tenor sax.

Juan Blanco, Espacios V, 1986

Juan Blanco: Cuba's Pioneer of Electroacoustic Music; by Neil Leonard - published in Computer Music Journal, MIT Press, 1997

Juan Blanco: Cuba's Pioneer of Electroacoustic Music; by Neil Leonard

Concert with Gadi Sassoon (aka MEMORY9)

2008-06-11T11:09:00.000-04:00

ECHO RESONANCE & MEMORY premiere performance - NAPOLI

2008-05-29T23:23:00.005-04:00

The sound for ECHO RESONANCE & MEMORY is inspired by Jannis Kounellis’ work at La Marrana Arte Ambientale (La Spezia), an installation made up of large church bells that appear to be spiraling out from the earth’s core. I was struck by the intensity by which this arrangement of bells, a chorus of silent tongues, caused sound to resonate in my mind. The work that I have created for ER&M uses computer processed voice and recordings of Kounellis’ bells, and invites us to reconsider how our memory records and abstracts sonic events. This is the first work in which I have collaborated with the choreographer/dancer from the formulation of concept, to the staging of the work and live performance. It is fitting that the premiere takes place on Monte Vesuvio, a sometimes-silent tongue, and like church bell, is the source of a hallmark sound in local history.

--- Italian press release ---

ECHO RESONANCE & MEMORY

di e con NEIL LEONARD & GABRIELLA RICCIO
performance multimediale danza musica immagini
prima assoluta

domenica 25 maggio 2008 ore 21.30
teatro IL TORCHIO spazio per le arti di Somma Vesuviana – Napoli
via colonnello Aliperta – Parco degli Aromi

ECHO RESONANCE & MEMORY performance site-specific multimediale (musica danza immagini) nasce dall'incontro di Gabriella Riccio artista-coreografa napoletana di formazione e percorso europeo - una delle figure più interessanti nel panorama cittadino della giovane coreografia d'autore e della nuova danza di ricerca della regione Campania - e Neil Leonard - sound artist, compositore e sassofonista di Boston, professore di musica elettronica al Berklee College of Music, curatore di GASP sonic art series a Boston, direttore di festival di musica elettronica di respiro internazionale. Neil Leonard si esibisce tra gli altri alla 49a edizione della Biennale di Venezia, all'Auditorium di Roma, al MOMA di NY, alla Carnegie Hall. E' attualmente in tourné in Europa per collaborazioni con il Conservaotrio Pollini di Padova e la Folkswangschule di Essen.
E' proprio Neil Leonard che apprezzando il lavoro di Gabriella Riccio ha lanciato l'idea per una collaborazione che vede la luce proprio nei prossimi giorni con un debutto nel suggestivo teatro Il Torchio spazio per le arti di Somma Vesuviana.

GR: Il tema è emerso dai primi suoni proposti da Neil, suoni arcaici, ancestrali, metallici. Materia, appunto. Ed evocazione/memoria. Abbiamo iniziato a parlare di eco e di risonanza del suono e l'impianto del suono è diventato ragione fondamentale per la ricerca e l'indagine sul corpo e sul movimento. Indagare le possibilità coreografico-compositive per i concetti di eco e risonanza con un uso dell'immagine ripetuta moltiplicata e riprodotta del corpo, per andare oltre ed arrivare ad un corpo/movimento visionario. Offrire allo sguardo/corpo suggestioni che possano risuonare questa volta in senso poetico con lo spettatore. La possibilità di lavorare in composizione istantanea sia con il corpo, sia con il suono, sia con l'impianto visivo (disegno luci di Fernado Siciliano, camera mobile di Alia Scalvini e missaggio video di Alessandro De Vita) offrono una rara possibilità di indagine dello scarto tra evento e reazione della mente, intelletto vs istinto, dentro vs fuori, luce vs buio, tra sacro e profano, perché il corpo ed in particolare il corpo-danzato resta sempre ed inevitabilmente materia della terra, ma che da questa materia può come corpo-poetico lasciare apparire, trasformarsi, evocare.

NL: "I suoni per Echo Resonance & Memory sono ispirati ad un lavoro che Jannis Kounellis ha presentato a La Maranna Arte Ambientale di La Spezia, una istallazione realizzata con grandi campane che affiorano in una spirale dal centro della terra. Mi ha colpito allora l'intensità con la quale l'organizzazione di queste campane, come un coro di lingue silenti, potesse fare risuonare il suono nella mia mente. Il lavoro che ho creato usa voci elaborate elettronicamente e registrazioni di suoni che ho generato dall'installazione delle campane di Kounellis in modo da suggerire il primo apparire del suono come riportato dai miti dell'antichità. Il lavoro invita a riconsiderare come la nostra mente registra e trasforma il suono e la musica. Questo è il primo lavoro in cui ho collaborato con l'artista coreografa/danzatrice sin dalla formulazione del concetto fino alla messa in scena dell'opera nella formula della "live performance". Non è un caso credo che il lavoro debutti alle falde del Vesuvio, una lingua a volte silente e come le campane un segno sonico della storia locale.

ECHO RESONANCE & MEMORY

2008-05-27T22:03:00.014-04:00

My first view of Mt. Vesuvius - site of the premiere performance.

Ariel shot from Google Earth - Somma Vesuviana us in the bottom left corner, just below the cloud.

After recording vocal tracks with Dagon Lorai and Alessia De Capua, residents of Somma Vesuviana. Alessia's voice is amazing and it was a real pleasure to work with these musicians from Somma Vesuviana, a small town near the summit of the volcano.

Rehearsing with Gabriella Riccio, Alia Scalvino and Alessandro De Vita at Il Torchio, Somma Vesuviana.

SECOND PERFORMANCE IN THE WORKS - MORE INFO TBA THIS WEEK!

Concert at Discoteca Di Stato - Sguardi Sonori 2008

2008-05-22T10:18:00.002-04:00

In addition to concert, there will be a conference in the afternoon at 16.00 at the Center for American Studies in Via Caetani 32, Roma.

Turn up the Volume: The Audio Archive and Ways of Listening
Sguardi Sonori presentation at Discoteca di Stato and the Center for American Studies
Rome, Italy
June 27, 2008

By Neil Leonard

This year’s edition of Sguardi Sonori is hosted, in part, by Discoteca di Stato (DDS), an extensive archive and study center dedicated to the preservation of sonic memory. The archive houses tens of thousands of hours of sound from around the world, with an emphasis on the unique sonic culture of Italy, including music, political speeches, and ambient sound of social events.
In this venue, Scanner (Robin Rimbaud), Kim Cascone, and I will present a concert of live electronics works. The personal collections of sounds we each work and tour with mirror DDS’s comprehensive collection. In our case, however, the collections are not the final product or center of discourse, but rather, raw material that we process to generate new works.

I was introduced to Scanner’s early work by my students at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in the early 1990’s. They were fascinated by Scanner’s inventive recycling of disposable sounds from police scanners, which he collected for his early compositions – and from which he adopted his stage name, Scanner. His use of the disembodied voices and electronic noises, produced by scanning devices, did much to focus our critical discussion on the writings of Luigi Russolo and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, and on the work of Marcel Duchamp, whose readymade sculptures of the early 20th century strongly suggested that sonic equivalents were just a matter of time.

Mining the airwaves, Scanner built an important body of work that changed to reflect the character of each location in which he eavesdropped. While John Cage explored similar ideas of appropriated broadcast and sound maps in his Imaginary Landscape No. 4 (1951) for 12 radios, digital technology handed Scanner the means to create real-time sound-maps that include the most private transmissions.

Like Scanner, Cascone has spent years constructing a sonic archive that fuels his current performances. Cascone’s work draws on a vast collection of sounds he created with hardware and software synthesizers. He builds home-brew software to navigate this repository in concert. After recycling and mixing these sounds algorithmically, to create a meta-soundscape, Cascone remixes them again on stage.

Cascone’s work epitomizes the extent to which new technologies are continually reshaping the ways we listen to, and work with, audio. In his recent Spectral Space, for example, Cascone uses indeterminacy to mimic the media overload that surrounds us. The work examines our ability to assimilate and decode this dense, omnipresent chorus of disembodied sound that has nothing to say, and yet, dominates our cultural soundscape. The result is a non-narrative performance in which Cascone finds “tangles of sounds that glint, shimmer, collide and implode within the fabric of noise.”

My own sonic archive has a distinct component of field recordings I collected while I was living in Italy for much of 2006. The sounds range from recordings of ancient Lazio ritual, that Dr. Massimo Pistacchi, Director of DDS, generously shared with me to recordings I made of Joseph Kournelli’s installation (located at La Marrana, the private estate for environmental art in La Spezia) to my recordings of Padovan a cappella groups -- comprised of workers from the open marketplace whose voices are quickly being replaced by the homogenous din of broadcast media. With the aid of computer processing, I have extracted, exaggerated and juxtaposed aspects of these keynote sounds to create a personal sonic statement.

My recent Italian commissions provided opportunities to leverage these sounds in three large scale works, including a permanent installation on the top of a mountain overlooking the Ligurian Sea, in a surround audio installation in the remains of the Templar church, Chiesa San Galgano, and most recently, as part of a 400-meter installation in the porticos of Padova’s historic district. These works explore the colliding sonic identities of new and old worlds and the relationship of the visitor to local histories.
Our short residency at Discoteca di Stato and the Center for American Studies provides several ways to reconsider the audio archive as an essential resource for 21st century art and examine how technological is changing the way we listen to and create sound works.

Neil Leonard
Boston
Director, Sonic Arts @ GASP
Professor, Berklee College of Music
May 2008

uscir ad ascoltar le stelle…

2008-05-19T11:07:00.006-04:00

Photos of Rondò da Passeggio can be found here:

Nicola Bernardi's photos of Rondo da Passegio

Commission from Mimi Rabson

2008-05-04T21:14:00.006-04:00

Violinist Mimi Rabson commissions Neil Leonard, JoAnne Brackeen, Stephen Webber, Winston Maccow, Norm Zocher, Victor Mendoza to create new works for solo violin. More details coming soon!

ECHO RESONANCE & MEMORY

2008-05-04T21:12:00.020-04:00

ECHO RESONANCE & MEMORY
performance multimediale
idea Gabriella Riccio e Neil Leonard
coreografia e danza Gabriella Riccio
musica originale dal vivo Neil Leonard
camera mobile Alia Scalvino
mix video Alexis - Alessandro De Vita
luci Fernando Siciliano

Il Torchio, Somma Vesuviana, Napoli
(on the active volcano Mt. Vesuvius)
May 25, 2008
http://www.myspace.com/il_torchio

ECHO RESONANCE & MEMORY has been selected for a repeat performance by
La Fondazione Campania dei Festival per il triennio a Napoli il NAPOLI TEATRO FESTIVAL ITALIA
June 28, 2008
www.teatrofestivalitalia.it

RONDÒ DA PASSEGGIO

2008-05-02T17:04:00.005-04:00

RONDÒ DA PASSEGGIO
Giornata dell'Ascolto 2008
Padova, Via Roma, May 18th 2008, 10:00 AM – 08:00 PM

Would you like to taste music like an ice-cream to go? Or walk on a sunny afternoon without the usual annoying presence of daily chores? You may want to try the Rondò da Passeggio (Rondeau to Go), a musical form that can only be completely appreciated by walking under the beautiful porticoes of Padova, in via Roma, on Sunday May 18th, 2008. The second edition of the Giornata dell'Ascolto (the listening day), the entire day will dedicated to the activity of listening in all its forms.

The Rondò da Passeggio takes place in the context of a musical installation that will rebuild the classical form of a seven-part rondeau (a b a c a b a) in a central street of Padova, Via Roma. Along its 900 feet of porticoes, where no cars are allowed, seven distinct compositions, each lasting 10 hours (from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM), will accompany walkers, strollers and joggers. Instead of the usual disturbing collection of sonic junk – dazed and confused – that emanates from pedestrian audio appliances that surround us, music will meet the city. Streets, squares, boulevards and buildings, a whole city will start whispering, playing and singing.

A “composition of compositions,” the Rondò da Passeggio is created by eight composers and installed by a horde of sound engineers. While each composition will be a distinct vision by a specific composer, the seven compositions will all be tied together by the formal scheme of the rondeau.

Rondò da Passeggio is a project commissioned by Prof. Sergio Durante (inventor of the Giornata dell'Ascolto) to the Conservatory “C.Pollini” of Padova and coordinated by Prof. Nicola Bernardini. The project involves numerous Conservatory teachers, composition students, electronic music students, and students from the Sound Engineering curriculum with the extraordinary participation of Neil Leonard and two of his students from Berklee College of Music, Boston.

Francesco Babolin, Anthony Baldino, Nicola Bernardini, Giovanni Bonato, Marco Braggion, Mirko Brigo, Gennaro Cantoro, Maura Capuzzo, Davide Ceccon, Andrea Cera, Raffaele Cipriano, Davide Corsato, Matteo Costa, Dario Dassenno, Pierluigi Duravia, Giacomo Frega, Gianni Giacomazzo, Francesco Guerra, Neil Leonard, Michele Marelli, Francesco Marescotti, Francesco Morosinotto, Marco Petrone, Matteo Pilotto, Spencer Putnam, Alberto Schiavo, Stefano Trento, Luca Uggias, Michele Vaccarotto, Andrea Versolatto, Riccardo Xotta. Rondò da Passeggio: 31 participants, 10 hours of music, 7 compositions, a single project.

Album Review @ Touching Extremes, May '08

2008-05-02T00:06:00.003-04:00

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Nothing works as planned (Interval)

There is a good variety of styles and atmospheres in this double CD, which collects live performances of new music by American and Israeli composers (Ido Govrin, Amnon Wolman, Jonathan Chen, Neil Leonard, Kiki Keren-Huss, Beth Denisch, Arie Shapira, Keren Rosenbaum and Yossi Mar-Chaim). The pieces should represent different approaches to the phrase that gives the title to this set, but in truth it's rather perceivable as the effort of a community - led in this occasion by the American Composers Forum of New England - to find a common ground amidst variegated compositional methods and interpretations of contemporary visions, the whole presented in unconventional intimate settings. There's difference between the two discs in terms of aesthetic: the first contains works that could almost be placed into a quasi-newfangled electronica sector (Govrin's static minimalism, Chen's unfolding spirals of noise, Leonard's organic mysteriousness-cum-saxophone), while the second winks more to XX-century classic scores, with the majority of the situations involving acoustic instruments in pretty dissonant clothes and tendencies to non-serene disillusion (Mar-Chaim's piece for violin, contrabassoon and electronics, but also the disturbing "War" by Keren-Huss, which includes disquieting human voices expressing sufferance). The impression remains one of a reunion of people familiar with the reciprocal particularities, and the rarefied applause heard at the end of the performances gave me the idea of an audience formed by few knowledgeable aficionados. Interesting disc, in any case.

2008-04-29T09:07:00.000-04:00

Dates with Giuliano Perin Ensemble in Padova:

Venerdì 16 maggio Lazise club "I Paparazzi"
Sabato 17 maggio Abano Terme Teatro Kursaal
Domenica 18 maggio Padova Palazzo Zukermann
Lunedi 19 maggio Padova Poesia e Musica

Plus

Domenica 18 maggio:
L'installazione della scuola di Musica Elettronica, di Composizione, il corso di Tecnico di Sala di Registrazione per la Giornata dell'Ascolto 2008 lungo via Roma. Nuovo lavoro con Maura Capuzzo

Domenica 25 maggio
Il Torchio, Somma Vesuviana, Napoli
Multimedia work with choreographer Gabriella Riccio

Multimedia performance @ Folkwang Hochschule, July 11, Essen

2008-04-25T22:07:00.006-04:00

Premiere of Multimedia performance created in collaboration with Claudius Lazzeroni, Dietrich Hanne, Thomas Neuhaus. More info coming soon ...

Uscir ad ascoltar le Stelle - May 18th, Padova

2008-04-25T21:28:00.010-04:00

The Giornata dell'Ascolta (Listening Day) festival commissioned the site specific sound installation, "uscir ad ascoltar le stelle…,” for the entrance of the Santa Maria dei Servi Church in the medieval city of Padova, Italy. As listeners enter the church for Sunday mass, they will experience an audio triptych that echoes themes and structures linked to the ancient architecture, painting, literature, and sounds that are essential to Padova's cultural heritage. Sound will emanate from the top of the portico structure, an architectural hallmark of the city.

I created the sound in collaboration with composer Maura Capuzzo, using sounds of sacred music from around the world. The title, "uscir ad ascoltar le stelle....," is derived from the final words of Dante's Inferno: "Then we came forth, to see again the stars." The title suggests the idea of listening to, and feeling, something immaterial that comes from another word, the world of sacred feelings and attitude. In the case of our installation, the title asks our listeners to "listen to the sacred world of our collective civilization ..."

The piece is a departure from any work that I have done in the past. Our commissioners asked for ten hours of continuous, non-repeating sound. I tell my composition students that duration is the first consideration when planning a work. Setting out to create a ten hour sound installation changed the way that Maura and I approached everything, from sonic result to process to artistic dialog. In addition, the site itself suggested things that were new, such as devising a three speaker configuration to match the theme of the trinity.

"uscir ad ascoltar le stelle...." is one of seven sound installations that will adorn a 400-meter stretch of Padova's main boulevard, via Roma. Together, these seven installations form a rondeau form (i.e., A1 - B1 - A2 - C - A3 - B2 - A4). Nicola Bernardini (Berklee '81), installation organizer and director of electronic music at Padova's Pollini Conservatory, titled this series of installations "Rondò da Passeggio" or "Rondeau to go." This is a pun on the classic rondo form and an ice-cream they do in Venice, the 'gianduiotto da passeggio'. It's an ice-cream that you pick up and stroll around with, you are not supposed to eat it on the premises (double whipped cream: top *and* bottom). Festival director Dr. Sergio Durante is encouraging all stores and restaurants to give their radio and CD playback a rest for the day and emphasize the unique sounds of the city and its musicians.

Berkee alumni Anthony Baldino and Spencer Putnam assisted in the realization of the audio.

Mil Manera para Decir Adios with The Simple Company

2008-04-21T10:32:00.007-04:00

Mil Manera para Decir Adios for computer generated sound, guitar and dancers
November 2007, Padova, Teatro delle Maddalene with The Simple Company and Interensemble

Music: Neil Leonard (music copyright Neil Leonard 2007)
Choreography: Elena Borgatti
Dancers: Hoda el Deib, Tiziana Maiuro, Veronica Pasqualotto
Guitar: Marco Pavin

Neil Leonard @ Auditorium di Roma

2008-04-19T18:09:00.005-04:00

Echoes and Footsteps - live at the Auditorium di Roma. Music copyright Neil Leonard, 2007.

Neil Leonard performs Tre Fiati with The Simple Company

2008-04-19T17:41:00.008-04:00

Tre Fiati for computer generated sound, soprano saxophone and dancers
November 2007, Padova, Teatro delle Maddalene with The Simple Company and Interensemble

Music: Neil Leonard (music copyright Neil Leonard 2007)
Choreography: Elena Borgatti
Soprano saxohone: Neil Leonard
Dancers: Claudia Baldan, Giulia Colombo

Giuliano Perin Sextet guest Neil Leonard - video

2008-04-15T11:29:00.012-04:00

April 2008
Imola Forum cafè, Bologna, Italia
Giuliano Perin Ensemble: Giuliano Perin (vibes), Neil Leonard (sax), Maurizio Scomparin (trumpet), Marcello Tonolo (piano), Luciano Milanese (bass), Massimo Chiarella (drums)

Nothing Works as Planned - 4.5 star review

2008-04-13T12:18:00.004-04:00

NOTHING WORKS AS PLANNED
[Interval Recordings - 2007 - 2Cd]
Genere: Experimental

Registrato in parte a New York e a Tel-Aviv, questo album rappresenta la fusione delle idee musicali di nove artisti, fissate in presa diretta e trasposte su supporto ottico, che trasformano in suono il 'loro' significato della frase 'Nothing Works As Planned' ovvero 'Nulla funziona come previsto' o forse sarebbe meglio dire 'Nulla di pianificato'. Il doppio CD è la documentazione della serie intitolata "Nothing Works As Planned", tenutasi a Tel-Aviv presso il Tel Aviv Museum of Art in occasione della Biennale di Musica Nuova, grazie alla Riverberazione naturale data dagli ampi spazi e dagli alti soffitti della struttura il suono finale risulta essere corposo quasi vivo, un vortice di suono sempre delicato che ricorda per 'movenze compositive' quei campanellini giapponesi dai quali il suono nasce casualmente sfruttando le vibrazioni indotte dal vento; così, quasi casualmente, lievi interferenze elettroniche vanno a giocare con archi e fiati mentre il 'suono' del pubblico conferisce al tutto una sensazione di presenza, quasi come se fossimo li ad ascoltare con le nostre orecchie, stesi su un tappeto catturati da qualche video installazione, il tutto corredato da un ottimo packaging con paesaggi fotografici dell'artista olandese Stefan Otto. Caldamente consigliato.

http://www.ultrasonica.it:80/site/modules/recensioni/index.php?op=r&rev_id=419&cat_id=1&sort_by

Tour with Giuliano Perin

2008-03-24T07:55:00.011-04:00

Giuliano Perin Ensemble: Giuliano Perin (vibes), Neil Leonard (sax), Maurizio Scomparin (trumpet), Marcello Tonolo (piano), Luciano Milanese (bass), Massimo Chiarella (drums)

March 27th, 9:00PM
Teatro Dei Rinnovati, Asolo, Treviso, IT

March 28th, 9:00PM
Villa Bertoldi, Settimo di Pescantina, Verona, Italy, IT

March 29th, 9:00PM
Teatro "Falcone e Borsellino"
Comune di Liminea, Padova, IT

March 29th
Meeting with Nicola Bernardini and Maura Capuzzo to plan sound installation for Giornata del'Ascolto in May.

April 1, 9:00PM
Imola Forum cafè, Bologna, IT

-------------------------------------
IN THE MONTHS AHEAD:

Nov 1 8:00P
Festival de Jazz de Gijón, Spain
and tour of Asturias
Neil Leonrd/Juan Carlos Casimiro Ensemble
-------------------------------------
Friday July, 11th @ 8:00 PM
"Alte Aula" Folkwang Hochschule
Week long residency and Multimedia performance with Neil Leonard, Claudius Lazzeroni, Dietrich Hahne, Thomas Neuhasu
Folkwang University, Essen, Germany
-------------------------------------
Friday, May 2 @ 8:00
GASP Gallery
BRUXISM: ANNE RHODES voice; CARL TESTA double bass, clarinets, and electronics with guests NEIL LEONARD and TODD BRUNEL on bass clarinets

Giornata dell’ascolto, Italy

2008-03-14T07:51:00.004-04:00

-------------------------------------
May 18 2008
Giornata dell’ascolto - city-wide listening day, Padova, Italy
Presentations with:
Nicola Bernardini -800 meter sound installation
Giuliano Perin – jazz ensemble at Loggia del Cornaro (above), next to Chiesa Sant'Antonio.

International Computer Music Convention - 2008

2008-03-11T11:57:00.003-04:00

I will be assisting with the organization of ICMC 2008 in Belfast. I am looking forward to this amazing event!

Solo saxophone concert

2008-03-05T19:07:00.005-05:00

I played a solo saxophone concert on the afternoon of my birthday. This High Street Hill Association sponsors and annual music event featuring Brookline musicians. Several years ago they featured a solo concert by Steve Lacy.

http://www.highstreethill.org/

Site for Giornata d'ascolto installation

2008-03-03T22:34:00.012-05:00

This is the site of a sound installation presented by the Giornata d'Ascolto. My collaborator is Nicola Bernardini from the C. Pollini Conservatory, Padova. Maura Capuzzo and I are creating the sound installation for this point. Here is a frontal view of the church.

Concert with Vijay Iyer

2008-02-19T08:02:00.007-05:00

The Music Technology Division Presents
A Music Synthesis Department Visiting Artist
VIJAY IYER

Concert: Wednesday, Feb 20
7:30 p.m.
1A, 1140 Boylston Street
Free and open to the public

The concert will feature Vijay Iyer on acoustic piano, laptop and video playing solo and with Music Synthesis students, alumni and faculty.

Neil Leonard - saxophone; Spencer Putnam - laptop; Anthony Baldino - laptop; Leah Gough-Cooper - EWI

Described in the The Village Voice as “the most commanding pianist and composer to emerge in recent years,” VIJAY IYER was named #1 Rising Star Jazz Artist and #1 Rising Star Composer by the Downbeat International Critics Poll for both 2006 and 2007. His twelve highly acclaimed albums include Reimagining (2005) and Tragicomic (2008) with his quartet; Simulated Progress (2005) and Orbis Tertius (2008) with the trio Fieldwork; Raw Materials (2006) in duo with saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa; and In What Language? (2004) and Still Life with Commentator (2007), his large-scale works with poet-performer Mike Ladd. In his newest ensemble, "Tirtha," Vijay joins forces with South Indian guitar virtuoso Prasanna and young tabla star Nitin Mitta. Vijay performs constantly around the world at international festivals and concert venues, and he has collaborated with artists such as Steve Coleman, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Amiri Baraka, Butch Morris, Ethel, dead prez, Karsh Kale, George Lewis, DJ Spooky, John Zorn, Dennis Russell Davies, and the American Composers Orchestra. He received the 2003 CalArts Alpert Award in the Arts, the 2006 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and project grants from the Rockefeller Foundation MAP Fund, the New York State Council on the Arts, Chamber Music America, Creative Capital, American Composers Forum, Meet the Composer, Arts International, and The Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. He is a faculty member at New York University, New School University, and the School for Improvisational Music, and has published articles in Music Perception, Journal of Consciousness Studies, Current Musicology, Uptown Conversation: The New Jazz Studies, and Sound Unbound.

myspace.com/vijayiyer

Bass Clarinet on Landon Rose's Dr. Clash & His Assistant

2008-02-12T22:26:00.002-05:00

Neil Leonard, bass clarinet on Dr. Clash & His Assistant

Leonard wins Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship

2008-02-12T14:11:00.001-05:00

(photo of Leonard interviewing Stanley Crouch, Herb Alpert visiting professor)

Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship Awardees Announced
The Office of Academic Affairs is happy to announce the awardees of the inaugural Berklee College of Music Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship: Lori Landay and Neil Leonard

Berklee College of Music
The Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship
Awardees Announcement

Congratulations to all who submitted project proposals for the inaugural Berklee College of Music Newbury Comics Faculty
Fellowship. We are pleased to announce the awardees.

Lori Landay is an Associate Professor in Liberal Arts. Her project, Visual Worlds, focuses on online 3-D animated
environments in which people can interact socially, express themselves creatively, fly, play games, shop, build things, own
"land", share music and video, and learn in new educational contexts. She will research various virtual worlds such as
Second Life, ActiveWorlds, and There.com, with particular emphasis on two foci important to Berklee: how the music industry
might become involved with virtual worlds and the educational opportunities for virtual worlds.

Neil Leonard is an Associate Professor in the Music Synthesis department. His project, Composition and Performance for
Robotics, Video and Architecture, explores the role of sound in connection to three visual disciplines (robotics, video and
architecture). He will create three new works: 1. a composition for woodwinds, custom music software, drawing machines,
and live video; 2. a work for saxophone, video/performance artists and laptop musicians based on recordings of a sculpture
by Jannis Kounellis; 3. an 800 meter sound installation for the Giornata dell'Ascoloto (Listening Day) festival in Padova, Italy.
Through collaboration with video and interdisciplinary artists, Leonard will explore strategies for creating personal narratives
using new technology. These compositions will be performed in Essen Germany, La Spezia and Padova, Italy, with
collaborators there.

2008-01-31T19:30:00.000-05:00

VORTEX presents:

Neil Leonard - sax & live electronics with
Anthony Baldino & Spencer Putnam - live electronics

Also appearing:

Doug Principato - guitar
The Rivera Brunel Method - Brunel - clarinets/Rivera - cello

Fri. 15 February @ OUTPOST, 8pm $5 or b/o
http://www.zeitgeist-outpost.org/

Anthony Baldino composes electronic music for modern dance and concert performance. Last summer he toured Italy playing in the Sguardi Sonori, Pop-Eye and Futurity Festivals. He composed and designed sound for films featured in the Sundance film festival. Anthony recently conducted the world premiere of Olivia Block's Rime and Glaze for 24 musicians (voices, string quartet, laptop soloists, contact mics).

Spencer Putnam began his music career in Omaha, Nebraska and now resides in Boston, MA. Under the moniker of Maetoba, Spencer performs as a multi-instrumentalist often toting a guitar, bass, keyboard and/or a variety of percussion instruments in an electronic setting using a variety of software applications on his laptop to simultaneously manipulate live and pre-recorded sounds. He has written and recorded music and sound for televised and private advertising, a small collection of short films and animations, the Boston 48-Hour Film Project and is currently in the process of incorporating live video-manipulation techniques into his on-stage performance.

ACHILLE SUCCI, BRUNO RABERG, GARRISON FEWELL, NEIL LEONARD

2008-01-30T09:51:00.000-05:00

Sonic Arts @ GASP proudly presents:

Friday, January 25th @ 8:00

Achille Succi - saxophone/bass clarinet
Neil Leonard – saxophone/electronics
Garrison Fewell – electric guitar
Bruno Råberg – acoustic bass

Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, Genova

2008-01-30T09:26:00.000-05:00

I will be helping with the organization of the 8th International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression hosted by Università degli Studi di Genova. 5 - 7 June 2008

The conference consists of a three full-day event where research papers, demos, and performances will be presented on the state-of-the-art concerning new interfaces for musical expression. There will be one day of workshops before and after the main conference, as well providing focus on special areas close to the NIME community.

Performance Program Committee

Miguel Azguime, Andreas Breitscheid, Pascal Decroupet, Raphael De Vivo, Michael Edwards, Jean Hébert, Neil Leonard, Michelangelo Lupone, Pietro Polotti, Curtis Roads, Jøran Rudi, Rodrigo Sigal, Alvise Vidolin, Daniel Weissberg, Iannis Zannos

http://nime2008.casapaganini.org/index.html