| Tania León, born in Cuba, and a vital personality on today’s music scene, is a highly regarded composer and conductor recognized for her accomplishments as an educator and advisor to arts organizations. She has been the subject of profiles on ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS, Univision, Telemundo, and independent films. Her works have been performed by the Orquesta Sinfonica de Asturias, Gewaundhausorchester, Orpheus Chamber and the NDR orchestras, as well as other world class ensembles. She has collaborated with authors and directors such as Wole Soyinka, Rita Dove, Margaret Atwood, Derek Walcott, Mark Lamos, and Robert Wilson.
León has appeared as guest conductor with the Symphony Orchestra of Marseille, the Beethovenhalle Orchestra, and L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, among others. Her honors include the New York Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and Fromm and Guggenheim Fellowship.
A founding member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, she instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series, co-founded the American Composers Orchestra “Sonidos de las Americas Festivals” and served as New Music Advisor to the New York Philharmonic.
She has lectured at Harvard University, Visiting Professor at Yale University, and Guest Composer/Conductor at the Hamburg Musikschule in Germany and the Beijing Central Conservatory in China.
León has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Colgate University, Oberlin, and SUNY Purchase. In 2008 she served as US Artistic Ambassador of American Culture in Madrid, Spain. A professor at Brooklyn College since 1985, she was named Distinguished Professor of the City University of New York in 2006.
A note from the composer
“Una flauta toca un crecendo que se va convirtiendo en alegria.”
A flute plays a crescendo that starts transforming into joy.
— From “Bailando con mi angel” by Carmen A. Vega Schimmenti, Puerto Rico.
This poem was the spark that ignited the creation of Alma. Ripples of pitches, a web of sonic impulses shimmering in the imagination. In Spanish, “alma” means soul or spirit; invisible forces, like the wind that caresses the chimes outside my window. The opening and closing of the piece evokes the sound of these chimes. The mood of the middle sections is propelled by the cascading of pitches that at times converge and diverge, a myriad of colors in playful onversation of bouncing gestures. |
