Bryant/Newton/Leonard/Song @ Outpost

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

Partita Tripla con Galilei

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Neil Leonard Quartet at Philadelphia Art Museum

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

Berklee Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship

Farewell to Post-Colonialism

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

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

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

The Third Guangzhou Triennial

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.

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

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

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)

ECHO RESONANCE & MEMORY premiere performance - NAPOLI

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

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

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…

Photos of Rondò da Passeggio can be found here:

Nicola Bernardi's photos of Rondo da Passegio

Commission from Mimi Rabson

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Neil Leonard performs Tre Fiati with The Simple Company

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

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

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

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

-------------------------------------
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

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

Solo saxophone concert

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

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

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

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

Leonard wins Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship

(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.

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

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

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

NEW CD!

Various Artists / Nothing Works As Planned / Interval Recordings 02

Release Date: 17.12.2007
Genre: Experimental / Electro-Acoustic
Double CD
Time: CD1 40:30 / CD2 41:17

Track List
CD1;
1 – Intro (1)
2 – Ido Govrin / Limbo Sketches; live laptop and video (1)
3 – Amnon Wolman / Increased Fines; live laptop (1)
4 – Jonathan Chen / Three Switch-Hitters; live electronics and video (2)
5 – Neil Leonard / Echoes and Footsteps; saxophone, electronics and video (1)

CD2;
1 – Kiki Keren-Huss / summer 2006, War; contrabassoon, violin and electronics (1)
2 – Beth Denisch / Fire Mountain Intermezzo; string orchestra (3)
3 – Arie Shapira / Violin 2004; violin and electronics (1)
4 – Keren Rosenbaum / Waltz; violin and electronics (1)
5 – Yossi Mar-Chaim / Nothing Works as Planned; violin, Contrabassoon and electronics (1)

(1) Recorded live at the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art, October 3rd 2006, Tel-Aviv Israel
(2) Recorded live at Issue Project Room, December 5th 2006, New York USA
(3) Recorded live at Moscow, Russia (February 2006) by the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, Misha Rachlevsky, Music Director

Words

This double CD presents diverse approaches to the phrase ‘nothing works as planned’ by nine composers and sound artists. Each and every one of them captures a singular moment which was compiled together to create an esthetic sonic statement of reason and beauty.

‘Nothing works as planned’ is comprised of live recordings of concerts in Tel Aviv and New York.
The double CD is a documentation of a series, entitled “Nothing Works as planned”, which held at the above mentioned cities and was premiered at the Tel Aviv Biennale of New Music hosted by the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

The premier took place in a large suite of galleries that was between exhibitions and therefore void of art work. The high ceilings, long reverberation and departure from conventional concert seating made for a cathedral-like setting and proved to be an ideal site for the concert of works featuring electronics, small ensembles and large video projections.

The series continued with a concert at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn, New York. IPR is located in a circular tower that was once a silo situated on the Gowanus Canal. Again, the unconventional setting and the unique acoustical space made an ideal venue for the performance of experimental music.

‘Nothing works as planned’, as with every release by Interval Recordings, contains a photo/visual image by the Swedish artist, Stefan Otto, and an “interval” graphic design rework and over all cover design by the Norwegian artist Erik Skodvin.
_______________________________
interval recordings / Info
www.interval-recordings.com
www.myspace.com/intervalrecordings

Concert with Choreographer Elena Borgatti

10 novembre 2007
Padova, Teatro delle Maddalene
ore 21.00

Mil maneras para decir adiós (prima assoluta)
Marco Pavin, chittara

Tre Fiati (prima assoluta)
Neil Leonard, saxophone/live electronics

Coreografia di Elena Borgatti
Musica di Neil Leonard

Dancers: Claudia Baldan, Giulia Colombo, Hoda el Deib, Tiziana Maiuro, Veronica Pasqualotto.
www.cmp.unipd.it/danza/




Mil maneras para decir adiós
Dancers: Hoda el Deib, Tiziana Maiuro, Veronica Pasqualotto






Tre Fiati
Dancers: Claudia Baldan, Giulia Colombo

Equatorial Rhythms CD Released!

EQUATORIAL RHYTHMS - Catalogue insert CD Du store verden! 2007 – DSV 04 Christopher Cozier: An extract from Sound System Version II – a sound collaboration by Christopher Cozier, Robin Foster, Sheldon Holder & Martin "Mice" Raymond. Featuring Sheldon Holder of "12", Christopher Cozier, Chantal Esdelle, with extracts from "Pardon I Soldier" by Christian Campbell and "Yvette's Story" by Yvette Gray. Mixed by Martin "Mice" Raymond & Christopher Cozier at ChampionSound Studios, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. (1.03) Don Byron: Mulatta – soundtrack for an installation by Yvette Mattern, recorded and mixed by Scott Petito (2.47) Satch Hoyt: Shrine ... Symphony – extract from The shrine – the 27 brides of the Black President installation, engineered by Evan Sobel. Music with the featured soundscape a collage on a 8 bar sample of Felas song Suffering and smiling. Other featured sounds are ambient sounds of Lagos city, Satch Hoyt on flute, voices of Malcolm X and Kwame Nkrumah, Alice Coltrane on harp. (8.42) Neil Leonard: Sacred Bath, part II – electroacoustic soundtrack for the video Baño Sagrado by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons. Composed, performed and programmed by Neil Leonard. Drumming in the middle section is an algorithmic variation on a four bar pattern by Cuban percussionist Ernesto Rodriguez. Previously released on the CD Timaeus. (6.46) Stephen Vitiello: Call Waiting (music_box_call_later_dogs_version), sound by Stephen Vitiello, Eder Santos for the Call Waiting installation (3.48) Kristin Bergaust & Alexis Parra: An extract from Musica Quemada, feat. Kelvis Ochoa & Telmary Diaz (4.04) Paulo Vivacqua: Deserto (7.18) Vu Nhat Tan: bung, recorded in Hanoi, July 2005 (4.52) Theo Eshetu presents: Defrosting the sun – vocals: Sabina Meyer, bass clarinet: Hans Koch, electric bass: Paed Conca, drums: Fabrizio Spera (4.24) Salem Mekuria: Sounds from TOBIA – an extract from IMAGinING TOBIA (1.33) Guilherme Vaz: Strong bone cornet from Oslo (15.04) Heri Dono / Jompet: Kala Kali – an extract from the installation, recorded by Endro & Aris (6.55) All tracks, copyright 2007, except (4) copyright 1993, 2007. See list-of-works for additional information. Compiled by bb. for the dsv! Mastered by Svein Hansen at Ola Narr.

Concert in Padova

A review from the Ancona Jazz site:

http://www.anconajazz.com/it/news/giulianoperinpassionreasoncaligola2006.php

GIULIANO PERIN
“Passion & Reason” – Caligola (2006)

Giluano Perin, vibrafono; Marcello Tonolo, pianoforte; Luciano Milanese, contrabbasso; Massimo Chiarella, batteria; Neil Leonard, sax alto, sax soprano; Maurizio Scomparin, tromba; special guest: Dave Samuel, marimba

Sottopongo volentieri alla vostra attenzione questo vibrafonista, giunto solo al terzo disco pur non essendo giovanissimo. Personalmente, posso dire di averlo conosciuto in club e di averne riportato un’impressione, molto positiva, di un musicista umile e riservato ma ben conscio delle proprie potenzialità espressive.

Ciò che colpisce di più in questo disco, e in maggiore misura rispetto al precedente “Into The Vibes”, è la qualità delle composizioni originali, scritte a arrangiate da Perin con rara maestria e una consapevolezza tutta italiana nella sintesi melodica. Da tempo vado sostenendo che i temi scritti dai nostri jazzisti, fin da prima della guerra, hanno un fascino peculiare, ad un ascolto attento subito distinguibili. E qui i temi colpiscono dal primo ascolto, con il loro sapore alla Horace Silver e Art Blakey, ma filtrati e arricchiti da profumi urbani tipici italiani.

Il solito hard bop? No, per niente. Piuttosto del vero jazz che guarda alla tradizione per un messaggio di grande modernità. E non è poco. Un ulteriore punto di interesse è la qualità dei soli di Perin, curiosamente “stridenti” con l’atmosfera dei brani per quella componente alla Lionel Hampton che anima il suo portato stilistico. E non dimentico gli altri: se i fiati rispondono con notevole perizia (più lirico Scomparin, più teso e swingante Leonard, peraltro assai convincente al soprano), entusiasma la sezione ritmica, veramente all’altezza di quelle super lodate d’oltreoceano, con un Max Chiarella che sarebbe ora di valutare nel modo più giusto. In fine l’ospite d’onore Dave Samuels, amicissimo e mentore di Perin, dà un apporto alla marimba da fuoriclasse qual è.

Penso che arriverete alla fine di questo disco senza fermarvi mai, e d’altronde i brani sono tutti belli e variati, tali da rendere l’ascolto di estrema piacevolezza. Permettete di citare almeno “In Tangenziale”, dove sono inclusi i rumori della terribile tangenziale di Mestre, e il recupero di “Innamorati a Milano”, splendida e forse oggi dimenticata canzone di Memo Remigi, qui trattata a mo’ di ballad dallo struggente portamento.

“Passione e ragione” : non poteva esistere titolo migliore per questo disco, che non merita affatto di essere confuso nella montagna di uscite (brutte e inutili, per lo più) che angosciano il mercato.

Massimo Tarabelli

Leonard's sound works go to the Bass Museum, Miami

The Bass Museum presents
MARIA MAGDALENA CAMPOS-PONS:
EVERYTHING IS SEPARATED BY WATER
Sept. 21, 2007 – Nov. 11, 2007

Leonard's sound is featured in two large scale multimedia installations. This exhibition will feature approximately 17 major works that include mixed media installations and large-format Polaroid photographs. This body of work spans 15 years (1990-2005), and explores the artist's ancestral displacement from Africa, her self-imposed exile from Cuba, and her experience as an Afro-Cuban woman living in North America. On view through November 11, 2007, this traveling exhibition is the first in-depth view of Campos-Pons's artistic career, and is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue, the first to explore her work. Organized by the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Italia nuovamente ...

I will give a workshop at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica 'A. Steffani' di Castelfranco Veneto, Italy



I will present three works in concert at the conservatory, including the world premier of a wind quintet dedicated to Paul Robeson entitled "4951 Walnut". This piece is a larger arrangement of a work for jazz quartet that was commissioned by the Paul Robeson House and Philigraphika.



The following day I present works for dancers/saxophone/electronics and dancers/acoustic guitar/electronics at Teatro Maddalena in Padova. The hosting group is Interensemble, directed by Bernardino Beggio.



The program features new works by choreographer Elena Borgatti.

Sonic Memories In/Site commissioned by Philigrafika for the Paul Robeson House

The Neil Leonard Ensemble in the Paul Robeson House, premiering "Sonic Memories In/Site" a suite of new works celebrating phase one of the renovation of Robeson's home.

Tom Lawton

Lee Smith

Craig McIver

I was commissioned by Philagrafika to compose music to celebrate the first phase of restoration of the Paul Robeson House. This is the house where he spent much of the last ten years of his life. I presented works for jazz ensemble and sound for an installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons at the Robeson House in West Philadelphia.

I played with a stellar group of Philly musicians. I was in a band with Tom Lawton (piano) when I was a teenager. We rehearsed every week for two years. The trombonist was Robin Eubanks - The trumpeter was my brother Devin. This will be the first time that I play with Tom in over two decades.

Performance: October 13, 5 pm and 6:30 pm

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)

Paul Robeson House
Corner/Opera. Rethinking a Site.
A Site-Specific Installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons
4951 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA



Re:Print Re:Present Re:View

Re:Print Re:Present Re:View is part of an effort to facilitate critical dialogue about the role of printmaking in contemporary art that will culminate with Philagrafika 2010. Increasingly, artists have embraced printmaking processes as an integral part of interdisciplinary practice and each of the artists participating, Berni Searle, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, and Rachid Koraïchi, whose use of printmaking reflects their commitment to community, collaboration and an expanded concept of the fine print.

Curated by Salah Hasan, the project includes three artist residencies, an artist publication and the exhibition of the work created over the course of the residencies. The multi-sited exhibition will run September-November, 2007 at our project partner, Temple Gallery in Old City, Philadelphia, as well as site specific installations at Paul Robeson House and Church of the Advocate.

I was honored to work with art historian/curator Salah Hasan (left) who brought our work to the Venice Biennial, 2001.

Stenersen Museum publishes soundtrack by Leonard in major sound art exhibition

Stenersen Museum

Equatorial Rhythms features Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons video Baño Sagrado, with a 35 minute electro-acoustic score by Neil Leonard. The catalog will include excerpts of the video and and Leonard's remix of the piece on the accompanying DVD/CD.

Equatorial Rhythms
September 28 – December 30, 2007

Equatorial Rhythms will focus on the art and music of countries that have deep-rooted, indigenous musical traditions that are unique to each participating country – musical traditions that are anchored in the national identities and daily lives of the people of these countries.

By presenting both art and music by artists from the selected countries, and in many instances a crossover between art and music, the synergy between art and music will come to the fore. All in all, the complex cultural issues addressed throughout the exhibition will contribute to an extensive, interdisciplinary, cross-cultural dialogue – one that runs both North/South and East/West.

Participating artists
Kader Attia (France)
Kristin Bergaust (Norway)/Alexis Parra (Cuba)
Kjetil Berge (Norway/Cuba-Brasil)
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons (Cuba)/Neil Leonard (US)
Albert Chong (Jamaica)
Christopher Cozier (Trinidad and Tobago)
Heri Dono / Jompet (Indonesia)
Andrew Dosunmu (UK)
Theo Eshetu (UK/Ethiopia)
Satch Hoyt (UK/Jamaica)
Alfredo Jaar (Chile)
Kimsooja (Korea)
Yvette Mattern (Puerto Rico/Germany)/Don Byron (US)
Salem Mekuria (Ethiopia)
Lamia Naji (Morocco)
Olu Oguibe (Nigeria)
Eder Santos (Brasil)
Guilherme Vaz / Sergio Bernardes (Brasil)
Paulo Vivacqua (Brasil)
Vu Nhat Tan (Vietnam)

Interval Recordings to release recordings from ACF Tour

www.interval-recordings.com



www.acfnewengland.org

From the liner notes:

Notes on a Music Festival
American Composers Forum, New England
Sonic Circuits 2006, International Electronic Music Festival
New Music from Israel and the U.S. presented in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Boston and New York

In October of 2006, I found myself sitting in cafe with Ido Govrin and Liora Belford in a southern district of Tel Aviv. Over lunch we reflected on performances that we had just presented in Israel and began to wonder how we could present these works to an audience world-wide. This CD is the result of that conversation and is comprised of recordings of concerts in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Boston and New York.

One week prior to this discussion, I arrived in Tel Aviv for the ACF concerts that were curated and produced by Kiki Keren-Huss. The series, entitled “Nothing Works as Planned”, began with a concert hosted by the Tel Aviv Biennale of New Music and held at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. We performed in a large suite of galleries that was between exhibitions and therefore void of art work. The high ceilings, long reverberation and departure from conventional concert seating made for a cathedral-like setting and proved to be an ideal site for the concert of works featuring electronics, small ensembles and large video projections.

A few days later we drove to Haifa to present work in a concert at the University of Haifa. Weeks earlier Haifa had been bombed and for some time there was a question whether or not we would have to postpone the tour. By the time we arrived in Haifa, the city appeared to be serene and we presented the second concert in Israel with works by Liora Bedford, Ido Govrin, Kiki Keren-Huss, Yosi Mar-Chaim, Keren Rosenbaum, Arie Shapira, Amnon Wolman and myself.

In December Keren-Huss, Shapira and Wolman traveled to the US to continue the series. Our first concert was held at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and also featured works by Jonathan Chen, Dennis Miller and myself. Many of the works that were performed in Israel were performed again with US performers, making this an ideal experience for the composers to hear their works unfold in new ways and for new audiences.

The series concluded with a concert at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn, New York. IPR is located in a circular tower that was once a silo situated on the Gowanus Canal. Again, the unconventional setting and the unique acoustical space made an ideal venue for the performance of electronic music.

I would like to thank David McMullin, Director of ACFNE for all of his hard work to bring the events to a successful conclusion. Dr. Beth Denisch, the founder of ACFNE, was the original architect of this international exchange. Dr. Denisch worked for several years to establish this unique link between the sister cities Boston and Haifa. Her efforts brought composers together to present work, collaborate on performances and share ideas. At the conclusion of the concerts, the composers on this CD suggested that we include her work, as her artistic vision and dedication were central to our activities.

Neil Leonard
Curator/Producer, Sonic Circuits ACFNE

Concert @ Jack and Luna's cafe' - NY

Jack and Luna's cafe' proudly presents:

Neil Leonard - sax
Bill Pernice - piano (Jon Hendriks/Willie Nelson)
Don Miller - bass (Dizzy Gillespie/Ramsey Lewis)
Chris Bowman - drums (John Hassell, Paul Bley, Jane Ira Bloom)

Saturday September 1
shows 7:30 7 9:00 PM

Jack and Luna's cafe'
3926 Main St.
Stone Ridge, NY
845 687- 9794 for reservations

I have had the pleasure of playing with Chris Bowman since '78. This is a photo of one of our bands featuring: Bowman, Leonard, David Bryant - piano, Jamalaadeen Tacuma - bass.

Giuliano Perin Project at Rubano Art Festival

Three days of music, dance and Theater. Photos courtesy of Giuseppe Favero.

Giuliano Perin - composer, viberphonist, director, put together this group featuring the finest jazz musicians in northern Italy.

Neil Leonard

Maurizio Scomparin

Marcello Tonolo

Massimo Chiarella

Giuliano Perin Interaction Ensemble at Spazio Tindici

Photos courtesy of Luca Buti

Our percussionist, 19 year old Giovanni Perin, a rising star on the European jazz scene.

The concert coincided with an exhibition of Photos by Luca Buti and paintings by Giancarlo Cazzaniga. The Veneto area television news network RAI3 covered the event.

Jazzing Everything
PAINTINGS SOUNDS PHOTOS
07/07/07 ore 21:30

Le “facce del Jazz” a Padova

SPAZIOTINDACI, in collaborazione con LA SPIRALE 2000, crea un evento unico per mostrare il jazz da differenti prospettive: la pittura di Giancarlo Cazzaniga, la fotografia di Luca Buti, la musica jazz dal vivo di Giuliano Perin , Neil Leonard, Giovanni Perin, Franco Lion . Attraverso un’esposizione di pittura, una di fotografia ed una performance musicale di “interaction ensamble” SPAZIOTINDACI offre alla città l’opportunità di incontrare le poliedriche “facce del jazz” e di conoscerne gli aspetti più originali e inediti.

Giuliano Perin Project at Porsche Jazz Festival/Caffe Pedrocchi

In 2006 I taught in Padova at the Università degli Studi di Padova and the C. Pollini Conservatory. During this time, I met viberphonist/composer Giuliano Perin, who I have performed with ever since. This summer we celebrated the release of Perin's CD "Passion and Reason" that features Dave Samuels (marimba), myself (soprano and alto sax) and Italy's finest: Perin (vibes), Maurizio Scomparin (trumpet), Marcello Tonolo (piano), Luciano Milanese (bass), Massimo Chiarella (drums).

Caffè Pedrocchi
Padova Jazz
Caligola Records


One of the oldest and most important jazz clubs in Italy

Photo courtesy of Gabriella Piccolo

After the concert.

Pop-Eye Festival, La Spezia

Neil Leonard and Pierce Warnecke

Anthony Baldino and Jess Hewitt

Pop-Eye festival in Giardini Centro Allende, La Spezia.

Anthony Baldino, Jess Hewitt and Pierce Warnecke are recent grads of the Music Synthesis program at Berklee College of Music.

Pop-Eye Festival
Jess Hewitt
Pierce Warnecke

Berklee Grads featured in the Pop-Eye Festival, La Spezia

La Marrana

I first went to Italy in 2001 to present work with Magdalena Campos-Pons at La Biennale di Venezia. At the opening we met Gianni and Grazie Bolongaro who commissioned us to create “Interiorità o Luna sulla collina” a permanent work for La Marrana (2003).

This year Gianni and Grazie Bolongaro asked me to select a group of sound works to present during the "Garden for Life" fund raiser for the Breast Health Institute. I chose works by Gary Chang, Anthony Baldino, Jess Hewitt and Pierce Warnecke. The following day La Marrana featured works by visual artists Claudio Losi and Hamish Fulton and hosted an artists talk with Giacinto Di Pietrantonio and Angela Vettese.

Ann Chang, Jess Hewitt, Anthony Baldino, Daria Trevisan, Neil Leonard, Gary Chang, Pierce Warnecke, Arthur Chang. Anthony, Jess and Pierce are graduates of Berklee College of Music. Daria attended my Site Specific Sound Installation and Performance Seminar at Università degli Studi di Padova and C. Pollini Conservatory (2006).


Anthony, Jess and Pierce were a huge hit everywhere we played.

Undicesimo Festival of Chiusdino, Abbazia di San Galgano, Siena

Carlo Fatigoni, Director Sguardi Sonori chose this Templar church for the sound installations by Leonard and Chang. Other events included a concert by Franco Battiato and a performance of Verdi's Rigoletto.

Sguardi Sonori 2007 at Isolda of San Servolo, Venice

In the early 8th century San Servolo hosted a Benedictine Monastry that was converted to a Hospital around the mid-eighteenth century. The island is about 1/2 a kilometer from the main site of the Venice Biennale, that was happening concurrently. Massimo Ongaro/ Teatro Fondamenta Nuove was our host.



Sguardi Sonori 2007
Isolda di San Servolo
Teatro Fondamenta Nuove
La Biennale di Venezia


A view of San Servolo

Setting up in the courtyard in front of Chiesa di Santo Spirito.

Performing Echoes and Footsteps in front of the church. Photo by Marilena Vita

Consulting with Phill Niblock before performing his work.

June 26, 20:00
Neil Leonard
Amnon Wolman
Phill Niblock & Katherine Liberovskaya
Pamela Z
A set by graduates of the Music Synthesis program of Berklee College of Music:
Anthony Baldino
Jess Hewitt
Pierce Warnecke

June 27, 20:00
Patrizia Mattioli
Duprass (Ido Govrin & Liora Bedford)
Steve Piccolo & Gak Sato
Cardiotest con Fathi Hassan, Alessandro Pintus e Morena Tamborrino
Mauro Sambo & Ignazio Lago
John Duncan
Dj set Obo Music

Sguardi Sonori 2007 in Benevento

At Benevento I presented sound works by Gary Chang and myself Chiesa di San Bartolemeo. We brought a Blue Sky Dolby 5.1 surround system for playback.

Later in the evening I performed at the Futurity Festival.

Pierce Warnecke, graduate of the Music Synthesis program at Berklee College of Music

Jess Hewitt and Anthony Baldino, graduates of the Music Synthesis program at Berklee College of Music

Sguardi Sonori 2007 at Auditorium di Roma, Parco della Musica

Sguardi Sonori 2007 began on June 20th with a concert at the Auditorium di Roma, Parco della Musica. This center for music designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano who designed the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris with Richard Rogers.

Neil Leonard performing Echoes and Footsteps with video by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

On stage after the performance Olivia Block, Neil Leonard, Pamela Z, Stephen Piccolo, Gak Sato.

Back stage with artist, organizer and friend Carlo Fatigoni.
Date: June 20
City: Rome, Italy
Venue: Auditorium Parco Della Musica, Teatro Studio, Roma
Concert works by Neil Leonard, Olivia Block, Pamela Z, 
Steve Piccolo & Gak Sato
 and a sound installation by Gary Chang.

Portovenere, Chiesa San Lorenzo

Portovenere

Chiesa San Lorenzo is the first site where Echos and Footsteps was presented as well as works by film composer Gary Chang.

This is the view from the courtyard: Chiesa di San Pietro.

Housing in La Spezia, Aeronautica Militare

I brought a group of five musicians and their families to La Spezia. The Aeronautica Militare housed us and hosted a workshop in sound art. Gianni and Grazie Bolongaro of La Marrana di Montemarcello and Giorgio Bendinelli of the Associazione Amici del Centro Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (CAMeC) helped coordinate events.


This was our first stop on the tour.

The view of the bay of La Spezia from the officers club.

Berklee graduates arriving at Comando Corso (the center for aeronautical instruction) to prepare concerts. "3,600 kilometeri in un pullman e siamo ancora amici!" - Three extraordinary people.

The van playlist:
1. Mina, Minantologia.
2. Miles Davis, The Cellar Door Sessions 1970

Favorite side-trip:
Hopping the fence of the Tarquinian necropolis at dusk.

Neil Leonard/Kenwood Dennard Duo @ Boston Cyberarts Festival/Cloud Foundation

Cloud Foundation presents
Neil Leonard and Kenwood Dennard with students from Berklee
Saturday May 5, 2:00 PM

Together, Leonard (winds) and Dennard (percussion) jam with software that tracks their performance and improvises linear illuminations, harmonic tapestries and poly-algorythmik-acuzmatic beats. Leonard’s ensemble has featured Marshall Allen(Director of the Sun Ra Arkestra), Bruce Barth, Don Byron, Robin Eubanks, Frank Lacy, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and Uri Caine. Leonard’s ‘Dreaming of an Island’ was premiered by the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Kenwood Dennard has recorded with Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, Sting, Jaco Pastorius and Maceo Parker.

The opening set will featured works by Anthony Baldino, Joe
Branciforte, Julia Campbell and Pierce Warnecke of Berklee’s Music
Synthesis program.

This event was part of CyberArtCentral for Youths at Cloud Place and
co-sponsored by the Boston Cyberarts Festival.

Cloud Foundation
647 Boylston St., second floor
Boston, MA 02116

Cloud Foundation
Boston Cyberarts Festival

All photos are courtesy of Joel Veak


Neil Leonard

Kenwood Dennard

Neil Leonard and Kenwood Dennard

Pierce Warnecke

Anthony Baldino

Julia Campbell and Joe Sexton

Joe Branciforte

Gloria Estafan at Berklee Graduation

Video Bar Romeo plays in Laptopia Festival, Israel

Video Bar Romeo by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard.

Organized by Ido Grovin and Liora Bedford (Duprass) and Interval Recordings.

Performance at Galleria Pack Milano

Last year's tour of Italy included a performance at Galleria Pack with Gadi Sasson (electroncs) and Ernesto Rodriguez (percussion). Ernesto and I played together in the band of Emiliano Salvador, a legendary Cuban pianist. Ernesto also played on my CD Timaeus.

The exhibition at Pack was Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons SONO QUI (I AM HERE), curated by Sergio Risaliti: from June 22nd through September 10th 2006. I did sound for the single channel video tape "Bar Romeo" and the installation "La Viajera."

Gadi Sasson
Ernesto Rodriguez

Dreaming of an Island - Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra

Date: February 17
City: Indianapolis
Venue: Indiana History Center – Basile Theatre

Event: Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra: Kirk Trevor, conducts the World premiere of “Dreaming of an Island” by Neil Leonard for orchestra, electronics and interactive video.

Program Notes

Dreaming of an Island revisits ideas that I first explored in video and installations with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons. Our collaboration contribution spans 19 years and about 9 collaborative works. Many of these works are featured in Campos-Pons' retrospective show Everything is Separated by Water at IMA. Dreaming of an Island was commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
 
My first works with Campos-Pons were filmscores, Rite of Initiation (1988) and Sacred Bath (1991). Since the beginning, my work with Campos-Pons has focused on the exploration of ancient cultural themes, and their impact on contemporary personal narrative. 

Both scores used themes from West African Yoruba music that Campos-Pons heard as a child in Cuba. My scores explored these melodies and rhythms and their connection to American pop and jazz music. (The experimental sounds of Jimi Hendrix and the Art Ensemble of Chicago were staples of my playlist at the time.) Dreaming of an Island draws on an even broader palette, but the basic goal is similar - to explore the ancient sounds as they resonate in the circles of 21st century concert music, electronic music and jazz.

The video projection for Dreaming of an Island is a montage created my myself and Magdalena Campos-Pons using a software system of our own design.

Link:
Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra

Sguardi Sonori Press Release

SGUARDI SONORI 2007 - OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

http://sguardisonori2007.blogspot.com/

Sguardi Sonori 2007 is a festival of media and time based art featuring artists from New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Havana, Israel, Egypt and Italy presenting works is sound performance, installation, video DJ/VJing.

Artists working in sound: Gary Chang, Neil Leonard, Olivia Block, Pamela Z, John Duncan, Phill Niblock, Katherine Liberovskaya, Steve Piccolo and Gak Sato, Amnon Wolman, Duprass (Ido Govrin and Liora Bedford), Patrizia Mattioli, Mauro Sambo, Ignazio Lago, CarDioTest, Fathi Hassan, Alessandro Pintus, Morena Tamborrino and Marco Benda Dj set. Emerging artists include recent graduates of the Music Synthesis Department del Berklee College of Music, Boston.

Artists working in video: Candice Ivy, Harvey loves Harvey, James Nadeau, Jen Schmidt, Justin Beckman, Matt Gamber, Taha Belal, Carlo Fatigoni, Fathi Hassan, Alberto Magrin, Alessandro Pintus, Gianni Moretti, Marco Benda and Marilena Vita, Pierce Warnecke.

Featured Exhibitions: Italian Dreams and Sognando l’Italia, works by Fathi Hassan, Maria Magdalena Campos Pons, Carrie Mae Weems, Carlo Fatigoni, Florindo Rilli, Marco Zoi, Daniele Brocchi, Alberto Magrin, Laura Troiano, Gianni Moretti.

Concert/Installation Venues:
June 20, Auditorium Parco Della Musica, Teatro Studio, Roma, Italy
June 21, Piazza Santa Sofia, Chiesa di Santo Spirito, Benevento, Italy
June 26-27, Isola di San Servolo, Venice, Italy
June 28, Cattedrale di San Galgano, Siena, Italy

Exhibition Venues:
June 8 - 24 Teatro Junghans (Giudecca) Venice
June 10 - July 8 July Rocca dei Rettori Benevento
July 15 - August 15 Scuderie Aldobrandini Frascati

Article on Timaeus by Ryan Bruce

Ryan Bruce wrote an article on my work with interactive systems and my CD Timaeus. The article includes a transcription of an interview that covers my early influences in jazz and computer music.

neilleonard.com/onlinearticles.htm
neilleonard.com/interview_bruce.htm

Everything is Separated by Water

This is the last weekend for Everything is Separated by Water!
Date: February 25-June 3
City: Indianapolis
Venue: Indianapolis Museum of Art

Event: Everything is Separated by Water: Sound for five installations by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons' mid-career exhibition.

www.ima-art.org

Catalog:
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons: Everything Is Separated by Water
by Okwui Enwezor and Lisa D. Freiman available on Amazon.com

A recent concert for the Boston Cyberarts Festival

The Music Synthesis Department of Berklee College of Music presents:

Interactive music and video by students, faculty and special guest composer/sound artist Olivia Block
Sunday April 29, 7:30 pm

Olivia Block presents the world premiere of Rime and Glaze for 24 musicians. Block’s score integrates voices, string quartet, laptop soloists, contact mics and more. Pierce Warnecke, Anthony Baldino and Julia Campbell from Music Synthesis present new works. Associate Professor Neil Leonard presents Echoes and Footsteps for winds, electronics and video.

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



The Music Synthesis CyberOrchetra:
Anthony Baldino – conductor
Olivia Block - Electronics
Jess Hewitt - sine waves
Pierce Warneke – electronic noises
Mica Bando - Voice
Deborah Egloff - voice
Kerry Leva – voice
Neil Leonard - bass clarinet
Julia Campbell - baritone sax
Chris Lane - trumpet
Bryan House - bass trombone
Ariadna Rodriguez - violin
Stephanie Oestreich - violin
Tim Weed - viola
Jeff Song - cello
Beau Sievers - percussion
Jason Wray - percussion
Joe Branciforte – percussion

After the performance!

New recording with Giuliano Perin

from Jazz Magazine


Giuliano Perin


Leonard in Cat Sound Studio, Rovigo

Giuliano Perin's CD Passion and Reason will be released in July with a release concert at Caffè Pedrocchi with Giuliano Perin (vibes), Neil Leonard (sax), Maurizio Scomparin (trumpet), Marcello Tonolo (piano), Luciano Milanese (bass), Massimo Chiarella (drums). The CD also features Dave Samuels (marimba)

The concert is sponsored by: "Un Anno di Jazz a Padova” voluta da Centro Porsche Padova e Caffè Pedrocchi

Liner Notes from Passion and Reason
"E’ il terzo cd di Giuliano Perin e il secondo che sono chiamato a commentare dopo Into the Vibes (grazie). Noto subito alcune cose che mi fanno piacere: la conferma della sezione ritmica esemplare del secondo disco, la presenza del sassofonista Neil Leonard che è anche insegnante alla Berklee di Boston e soprattutto – qui scivolo sul piano personale – quella di Dave Samuels che incontrai giovanissimo (lui, non io) negli anni Settanta come virtuoso di vibrafono e marimba nel gruppo di Gerry Mulligan al quale diede, come qui, un contributo eccellente di espressività e di eleganza. Noto pure il forte attacco iniziale, arrangiato per i fiati, in medias res, del primo brano della serie, Renaissance firmato da Perin, che cattura l’ascoltatore e lo consiglia implicitamente di non perdere più la concentrazione, perché ne vale la pena. Più oltre, specie nel quinto e nell’ottavo brano, apprezzo la tromba di Maurizio Scomparin che lo stesso Perin definisce, parlandone con me, un solista sottovalutato. Condivido. La musica del disco è tutta bella, al punto che quasi dispiace indicare alcune preferenze, ma si tratta di un obbligo al quale non ci si può sottrarre. Trovo ottima l’idea di aver registrato i suoni dell’ormai infernale tangenziale di Mestre, di cui le italiche istituzioni continuano a non occuparsi, e di averli inclusi nel brano In Tangenziale, giustamente grintoso. Stupendo è il dialogo fra Samuels e Perin nella Letter to Dave, e magnifico è l’apporto di Leonard in Passion & Reason che dà il titolo all’album e nello stesso In Tangenziale, dove si impone anche Scomparin. Il cd appartiene, dalla prima all’ultima nota, a una sorta di amabile ed autobiografico hard bop rivisitato alla luce delle esperienze successive, sebbene posto accanto ai prediletti Art Blakey e Horace Silver, ma non c’è mai il benché minimo sentore di imitazione. Avevo concluso le note del primo cd di Perin con l’augurio esortativo . Perin lo ha ascoltato ed è salito più in alto. Salirà ancora e quindi mi ripeto: ad majora."
Franco Fayenz

Sacred Bath from CD Timaes was choreographed by the Simple Company

The Simple Company performing Sacred Bath, Computer art Festival 2007, Teatro delle Maddalene, Padova, 5 febbraio 2007. Foto di Paolo Colombo e Gianluca Paradisi (per gentile concessione).


Sacred Bath from my CD Timaes was choreographed by The Simple Company and presented by Elena Borgatti in the Giornata dell'Ascolto, Padova.

Purchase the music!
Timaeus @ CDBaby

GIORNATA DELL'ASCOLTO, PADOVA
LA DANZA CONTEMPORANEA
Palazzo Zuckermann Corso Garibaldi 33, ore 20.30 - 21.30

Il rinnovato PalazzoZuckermann, costruito tra il 1912 e il 1914 su incarico di Enrico Zuckermann, ospita lo spettacolo della compagnia di danza contemporanea The Simple Company del Concentus Musicus Patavinus (Università di Padova). Lo spettacolo all’aperto, dal titolo EGOS, è un continuo gioco di innesti tra la musica di Shostakovich, Milhaud, Beethoven, con Jeremy Barnes, Cécile Schott, Oliver Alden, Neil Leonard, i giochi di luce, le strutture suggestive del teatro all’aperto che intersecano i movimenti della danza.





LINKS:
The Simple Company blog
Info on the Simple Company

Concerts in Tel Aviv, Haifa, NYC and Boston

Carrying on the tradition of ACF's Sonic Circuits International Festival of Electronic Music and Art, ACF New England was proud to present an exciting new collaboration between American and Israeli composers in November and December of 2006.

The SONIC CIRCUITS 2006 festival featured concerts and related events in four Israeli and American cities: Tel Aviv, Haifa, Boston, and New York. It commenced on November 3 with a concert produced in conjunction with the Tel Aviv Biennale of New Music, with subsequent events in Jerusalem and Haifa in the days following. The American events took place between November 29 and December 9 in Boston and New York. The festival featured works by composers Neil Leonard, Kiki Keren-Huss, Amnon Wolman, Arie Shapira, Dennis Miller, Jonathan Chen, Yosi Mar-Chaim, Ido Govrin, and Keren Rosenbaum, including live performances with electronics, video art, sound installation, and compositions for electroacoustic tape.

Sonic Circuits was made possible by funding from the Argosy Foundation, the Boston-Haifa Connection of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in-kind support from Berklee College of Music, Northeastern University, Gallery Artists Studio Projects (GASP), the Music Department of the University of Haifa, and the Tel Aviv New Music Biennale. ACFNE is also grateful to Beth Denisch, our founding Director, for her inspiration and initiative as the original architect of Sonic Circuits 2006, and to Neil Leonard and Kiki Keren-Huss for curating and producing the events.

Upcoming Events in Italy

Date: July 12
City: Padova, Italy
Venue: Rubano Art Festival
Event: Performance with Giuliano Perin Ensemble

Date: July 7
City: Padova, Italy
Venue: Notte Bianca, Tindaci
Event: Performance with Giuliano Perin Ensemble
Address: via Dante 17
Contact: spaziotindaci@tindaci.com

Date: July 6
City: Padova, Italy
Venue: Caffè Pedrocchi
Event: Un Anno di Jazz a Padova” voluta da Centro Porsche Padova e Caffè Pedrocchi
Giuliano Perin "Passion and Reason" CD release concert with Leonard (sax), Perin (vibes), Marcello Tonolo (piano), Luciano Milanese (bass), Massimo Chiarella (drums). The CD also features Dave Samuels (marimba)
Link: www.padovajazz.com

Date: July 1
City: La Spezia, Italy
Venue: Pop-eye festival
Event: Set by Neil Leonard and Anthony Baldino, Jess Hewitt, Pierce Warnecke (Students of the Music Synthesis Department, Berklee College of Music)

Date: June 30
City: Ameglia - La Spezia, Italy
Venue: La Marrana id Montemarcello
Event: Sound performance and installation

Date: June 29
Time: , 5:00 PM
City: La Spezia, Italy
Venue: Palazzina delle Arti
Event: Sound performance
Set by Neil Leonard and Anthony Baldino, Jess Hewitt, Pierce Warnecke (Students of the Music Synthesis Department, Berklee College of Music)

Date: June 28
City: Siena, Italy
Venue: Cattedrale di San Galgano
Event: Sguardi Sonori Festival of Media and Time Based Art
Sound Installation by Gary Chang and Neil Leonard

Date: June 26-27
City: Isola di San Servolo, Venezia, Italy
Venue: Chiesa di Santo Spirito
Event: Sguardi Sonori Festival of Media and Time Based Art
Concert works by Neil Leonard, Pamela Z, Phil Niblock & Katherine Liberovskaya, Pamela Z, Neil Leonard , Amnon Wolman, John Duncan, Steve Piccolo & Gak Sato, Duprass (Ido Govrin & Liora Bedford), Cardiotest with Fathi Hassan, Alessandro Pintus e Morena Tamborrino, Mauro Sambo & Ignazio Lago, Patrizia Mattioli
Sound Installation by Gary Chang, Chiesa di San Servolo

Date: June 21
City: Benevento, Italy
Venue: Piazza Santa Sofia
Event: Sguardi Sonori Festival of Media and Time Based Art
Concert works by Neil Leonard and Anthony Baldino, Jess Hewitt, Pierce Warnecke (Students of the Music Synthesis Department, Berklee College of Music)
Sound Installation by Gary Chang, Chiesa di Santo Spirito, 5:00 PM

Date: June 20
City: Rome, Italy
Venue: Auditorium Parco Della Musica, Teatro Studio, Roma
Event: Sguardi Sonori Festival of Media and Time Based Art
Concert works by Neil Leonard, Olivia Block, Pamela Z,
Steve Piccolo & Gak Sato
Sound Installation "Sanctuaries" by Gary Chang

Date: May 27
City: Padova
Venue: Giornata dell'Ascolto
Event: Music for dance performance with The Simple Company organized by the University of Padova