User:Pkdarringer/Patricia K. Leonard

A native of Boston, Patricia Leonard’s early musical training began with piano studies, followed by composition studies at The New England Conservatory. She received a B.M. in Composition from The Boston Conservatory. In 1998, she came to New York to study composition with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Del Tredici. In July 2010, Grammy Award-winning clarinetist Eddie Daniels performed the world premiere of Ms. Leonard’s clarinet quintet, Seven Tears into the Sea, at Crested Butte Music Festival in Colorado. This quintet was also performed in Ochsenhausen, Germany in August 2010 as part of the International Regions Symphony Orchestra music festival. Other premieres include her song cycle My Dearest Friend which will feature Metropolitan Opera soprano Wendy Bryn-Harmer and will be performed at the Boston Conservatory in autumn 2010. Ms. Leonard’s music is performed frequently in the U.S. and in Europe and has enjoyed premieres at venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, The Stella Adler Theatre, Symphony Space, and Merkin Hall; Boston’s Tsai Performance Center, Edward Pickman Hall, the Boston Conservatory and New England Conservatory. European performances include the world premiere of her song cycle Demonstrations of Love in Germany (October 2009) and Switzerland (November 2009) under the direction of a member of the Zurich Opera in autumn 2009. Universal Mother in Umbria, Italy as part of the Musica Senza Frontieri festival in November 2007; Strangely Close, Yet Distant in Venice, Italy April 2008 with the acclaimed INTERENSEMBLE chamber group; the premiere of her piano trio, Venetian Moonlight, in Seville, Spain March 2009, Rome, Italy, in November 2009 and the recent U.S. premiere at Symphony Space, NYC with No Borders Quartet. Ms. Leonard's compositions have been reviewed as “arresting and evocative with innovative harmonies” by New York Concert Review; the New Music Connoisseur reviewed her musical style as “revealing musical sophistication and a high level of craftsmanship;” and the February 2008 premiere of Diabolique for electric violin and piano was reviewed as “wildly imaginative and vivid storytelling with virtuosic variety”. Awards include the 2008 IBLA Foundation Prize for Distinguished Composer, the Mark Brunswick Prize for Composition and the 1998 CUNY Award for excellence by a woman composer. Ms. Leonard is a founding member of New York Composers Circle and shared the group’s inaugural concert in May 2003 with guest composer, David Del Tredici. She is also a Board member of The League of Composers/I.S.C.M and The New York Women Composers.