Cheryl E. Leonard
Cheryl E. Leonard is a San Francisco-based composer, performer, field recordist, and instrument builder celebrated for her innovative work in sound art. Drawing on a profound engagement with the natural world, Leonard crafts her compositions using materials such as stones, wood, water, ice, sand, shells, feathers, and bones, often collected from remote environments including Antarctica and the Arctic. Her music not only delves into the sonic intricacies of these materials but also addresses pressing environmental issues like climate change and species extinction.
Leonard’s work has resonated on international stages across the Americas, Europe, Japan, and Australasia, and her recordings have been released under esteemed labels such as Other Minds, Mappa, and SubPop. An active participant in the academic discourse on music and sound art, her projects have been featured in documentaries like Tim Perkis’s Noisy People and on television programs such as KQED TV’s Spark.
A recipient of numerous grants and residencies, Leonard has been supported by organizations like the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program and New Music USA. Her commissions include pieces for the Kronos Quartet and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others. Her installations, instruments, recordings, and graphic scores have been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide.
Besides her solo projects, Leonard is deeply collaborative, working across disciplines with scientists, visual artists, and poets, and is a member of ensembles such as Euphotic and the Oakland Reductionist Orchestra. Her current efforts include contributing to a sound map of Point Reyes National Seashore.
Beyond her artistic endeavors, Leonard is an avid practitioner and teacher of Aikido, and her personal interests include backpacking, mountaineering, rock climbing, and backcountry skiing. She also collects spherical stones and pinecones with handles, reflecting her deep connection to the textures and forms of the natural world.
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Tags: Biography, Music from Humans
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