Laura Leon is recognized for her solo and collaborative performances which include The International Oceania Arts Festival, The Mozart Opera Project, the 2006 Emmy-award winning documentary A Hidden Life, and the multimedia work PRO.JECT, which was sponsored by Yamaha in 2001. An active champion of American composers, a passion which was nurtured during her studies with Morey Ritt, she has received national and international acclaim for her performances and recordings of a distinguished roster of composers that includes Peter Schickele, William Bolcom, Leo Kraft, Eric Ewazen, Hugo Weisgall, Steven Rosenhaus and Morton Gould, several of whose works Ms. Leon and violinist Colin Jacobsen had the privilege of repremiering at a concert honoring Mr. Gould at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts. The New Music Connoisseur has called her performances "an even blend of fine technique, intelligence and passion."
Ms Leon is thrilled to be giving the world premiere of PRESENTS II, a new solo piano work by Peter Schickele, at YASI's Piano Salon in April 2008. Along with Mr. Schickele's work, she will also be giving the world premiere of Found In Nature, a new work by Leo Kraft, which she will perform alongside photobotanicus, new photographic images by award-winning New York photographer Barry Rosenthal.
A long-time collaborator with renowned flutist Amy Ziegelbaum, they released Blessings of Beauty: A Classic Collection of Judaic Gems by Kurt Weill, Salamone Rossi, Morton Gould, Billy Joel, David Amram, and more…on the Musical Tapestries label in 1999 to international acclaim. It has been featured on radio broadcasts in Europe and across the US, including WQXR with Robert Sherman. She and Ms. Ziegelbaum can be heard together, alongside Ms. Leon's solo performances, in the 2006 Emmy award-winning documentary A Hidden Life, which has been aired on PBS and for which Ms. Leon was the music director.
Ms. Leon's discography, all on the Musical Tapestries label, also includes two solo piano recordings: Preludes to Passion: Intimate Keyboard Works by Aaron Copland, Sting, J.S. Bach, Peter Schickele, Bela Bartok and more; and Matilda Variations, of which she gave the world premiere in 2002 at the New York Australian Consulate-General; Out and About with the noted Australian soprano Lesley Pryde; and Changing the Pace, a unique collaborative recording featuring solo piano works by Astor Piazzolla, Eric Ewazen, Morton Gould and Steven Rosenhaus, transformed by Ms. Leon's arrangements and performances.
