Tania León (born May 14, 1943) is a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n-born American composer of both large scale and chamber works. She is also renowned as a conductor, educator, and advisor to arts organizations.

Early years and education

She was born Tania Justina León in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Cuba, of mixed French, Spanish, Chinese, African, and Cuban heritage. It was her grandmother who recognized that her granddaughter liked music because of the way she reacted to music on the radio. She began studying the piano at the age of four and she attended Carlos Alfredo Peyrellade Conservatory, where she earned a B.A. in 1963, and the Alejandro García Caturla Conservatory, where she studied piano with

Zenaida Manfugás Zenaida Elvira González Manfugás (February 22, 1922 - May 2, 2012) was a Cuban-born American-naturalized pianist, considered to be one of the best Cuban pianists in history.

. Leon was one of an estimated 300,000 Cubans who left Cuba as a refugee on the so-called "

Freedom Flights Freedom Flights (known in Spanish as ''Los vuelos de la libertad'') transported Cubans to Miami twice daily, five times per week from 1965 to 1973. Its budget was about $12 million and it brought an estimated 300,000 refugees, making it the "larg ...

". In the spring of 1967 she left Cuba and settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, continuing her studies at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

under the tutelage of

Ursula Mamlok Ursula Mamlok (February 1, 1923 – May 4, 2016) was a German-born American composer and teacher. Education and influences Mamlok was born as Ursula Meyer in Berlin, Germany, into a Jewish family, and studied piano and composition with Professor G ...

(B.S., 1971; M.S., 1975).

Career

In 1969 León became a founding member and the first musical director of Arthur Mitchell's Dance Theater of Harlem, establishing its music department, music school, and orchestra. Her ballet compositions for that company include ''Haiku'' (1973), ''Dougla'' (with

Geoffrey Holder Geoffrey Lamont Holder (August 1, 1930 – October 5, 2014) was a Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, musician, and artist. He was a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet before his film career began in 1957 with an appearance in '' ...

, 1974) and ''Belé'' (with Geoffrey Holder; 1981). She instituted the

Brooklyn Philharmonic There have been several organisations referred to as the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The most recent one was the now-defunct Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, an American orchestra based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in existence fr ...

Community Concert Series in 1978 and in 1994 co-founded the American Composers Orchestra Sonidos de las Americas Festivals as

Latin American Music The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Romance language, Romance-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music also incorporates African music from enslaved Afric ...

Advisor. From 1993 to 1997, she was New Music Advisor to

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orch ...

and the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

. She also served as Latin American Music Advisor to the

American Composers Orchestra The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including: * Zankel Hall at ...

until 2001. In March 2001 her orchestral work ''Desde...'' was premiered by the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. She has been a guest conductor with the Beethovenhalle Orchestra,

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

; the

Gewandhausorchester The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

; the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Rome; the National Symphony Orchestra of South Africa,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

; the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

; and the New York Philharmonic, among others. León's opera '' Scourge of Hyacinths'', based on a radio play by

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfre ...

-winner

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

, was commissioned in 1994 by the

Munich Biennale The Munich Biennale (german: Münchener Biennale) is a contemporary opera and music theatre festival in the city of Munich. The full German name is ''Internationales Festival für neues Musiktheater'', literally: International Festival for New Musi ...

, where it won the BMW Prize as best new

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

. Staged and designed by Robert Wilson with León conducting, it has received over 22 performances in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, Switzerland,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. The aria " Oh Yemanja" from ''Scourge'' was recorded by

Dawn Upshaw Dawn Upshaw (born July 17, 1960) is an American soprano. She is the recipient of several Grammy Awards and has released a number of Edison Award-winning discs; she performs both opera and art song, and her repertoire spans Baroque to contempor ...

on her Nonesuch CD ''The World So Wide''. León's composition ''Horizons'', written for the NDR Symphony Orchestra of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, premiered at the July 1999 Hammoniale Festival, with

Peter Ruzicka Peter Ruzicka (born 3 July 1948) is a German composer and conductor of classical music. He was director of the Hamburg State Opera, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Hamburg and the Salzburg Festival. Ruzicka was managing director and Intendant of t ...

conducting. In August 2000, ''Horizons'' had its U.S. premiere at the

Tanglewood Music Festival The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Stockbridge and Lenox in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts. The festival consists of a series of concerts, including symphonic music, ch ...

, with Stefan Asbury conducting. León conducted the work with the Orchestre Symphonique de Nancy (France) in March 2002. ''Drummin, a full-length cross-cultural work for indigenous

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...

s and orchestra, was commissioned and premiered in 1997 by

Miami Light Project Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

and the

New World Symphony Orchestra The New World Symphony is an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida. Established in 1987, the organization is a training ensemble for young musicians in preparation for professional careers in classical music. Since 2011, the N ...

. It opened the 1999 Hammoniale Festival in Hamburg. In February 2019, the

performed the world premiere of her composition ''

Stride Stride or STRIDE may refer to: Computing * STRIDE (security), spoofing, tampering, repudiation, information disclosure, denial of service, elevation of privilege * Stride (software), a successor to the cloud-based HipChat, a corporate cloud-based ...

'' for orchestra. León's recorded works include ''Batá'', by the Foundation Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Snell and produced by Sir

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

; ''Indígena'', a collection of León’s chamber music; ''Carabalí'' (and already ''Batá'') on the

Louisville Orchestra The Louisville Orchestra is the primary orchestra in Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1937 by Robert Whitney (1904–1986) and Charles Farnsley, Mayor of Louisville. The Louisville Orchestra employs salaried musicians, and offers a wide ...

’s First Edition Records; ''Rituál'', for solo piano, and her arrangement of Moises Simons' song "

El Manisero "El manisero", known in English as "The Peanut Vendor", is a Cuban son- pregón composed by Moisés Simons. Together with "Guantanamera", it is arguably the most famous piece of music created by a Cuban musician. "The Peanut Vendor" has been recor ...

" for Chanticleer. Tania León used award-winning Cuban-American poet Carlos Pintado’s poems to create Rimas Tropicales with a World premiere in June 2011 by one of the world’s most respected vocal ensembles: the 5 times Grammy Award-winning group the San Francisco Girls Chorus.

Awards, honors and recognition

In 1998 León was awarded the New York Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She has received

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad ho ...

s from Colgate University and Oberlin College and awards from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headq ...

, the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federa ...

Chamber Music America Chamber Music America (CMA) is an American non-profit organization that provides small ensemble professionals with access to a variety of professional development, networking, and funding resources. CMA's regular initiatives include grants, awards, ...

, NYSCA, the

Lila Wallace Lila Bell Wallace (December 25, 1889 – May 8, 1984) was an American magazine publisher and philanthropist. She co-founded ''Reader's Digest'' with her husband Dewitt Wallace, publishing the first issue in 1922. Early life and education Born Lil ...

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his w ...

Fund,

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, and

Meet the Composer New Music USA is a new music organization formed by the merging of the American Music Center with Meet The Composer on November 8, 2011. The new organization retains the granting programs of the two former organizations as well as two media program ...

, among others. In 1998, she held the Fromm Residency at the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects ...

. León has also been a resident at

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

(supported by a MacArthur Foundation Award), and at the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Ca ...

’s Bellagio Center in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. She has also been a

Visiting Lecturer In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, Visiting Professor at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

and the Musikschule in

. In 2000 she was named the Tow Distinguished Professor at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College, where she has taught since 1985. Brooklyn College is one of the senior colleges of the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges and seven pr ...

(CUNY), where she is also on the faculty of the CUNY

Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public ...

, in Manhattan. León has been the subject of profiles on ABC, CBS, CNN,

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and inclu ...

and independent films. In 2010, her work was performed in Cuba for the first time at the second annual

Leo Brouwer Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida (born March 1, 1939) is a Cuban composer, conductor, and classical guitarist. He is a Member of Honour of the International Music Council. Family He is the grandson of Cuban composer Ernestina Lecuona y Casa ...

Festival of Chamber Music. In 2010 and 2012, she was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. She is the only Cuban and

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or t ...

musician ever to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition (2013). She won the 2021

Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted ...

for ''

''. In 2022, Tania was awarded a

Kennedy Center Honor The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in a gala celebrating five honor ...

along with

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...

and the members of U2.

Works

Chamber works

*''A la Par'', piano and percussion *''Ácana'', chamber orchestra *''Alma'', flute and piano *''Ascend'', brass ensemble *''Axon,'' violin and electronics *''Bele'', chamber orchestra *''De Color'', violin and marimba *''De Memorias'', woodwind quintet *''Dougla'', large mixed ensemble *''Drummin , chamber orchestra *''entre nos'', clarinet, bassoon, piano *''Escencia'', string quartet *''Ethos'', piano and string quartet *''Four Pieces for Cello'', violoncello solo *''Haiku,'' percussion ensemble, large mixed ensemble *''Hechizos'', chamber orchestra *''Indigena,'' large mixed ensemble *''Maggie Magalita,'' large mixed ensemble *''Paisanos Semos!'', guitar solo *''Parajota Delate'', mixed quintet *''Permutation Seven'', mixed sextet *''Pet's Suite'', flute and keyboard *''Saoko'', brass quintet *''sin normas ajenas'', large mixed ensemble *''Son Sonora'', flute and guitar *''The Beloved'', large mixed ensemble *''The Golden Windows'', large mixed ensemble *''Tones'', chamber orchestra *''Toque'', clarinet, alto sax, piano, percussionists, violin, and double bass

Orchestral works

*''Bata'' *''Carabali'' *''Concerto Criollo'', piano, solo timpani and orchestra *''Desde...'' *''Horizons'' *''Kabiosile'', piano and orchestra *''Para Viola y Orquesta'', solo viola and orchestra *''

'' (2019) for orchestra

Vocal works

*''Batey'', vocal ensemble and instrumental ensemble *''De-Orishas'', vocal ensemble (6 to 12 singers) *''Drume Negrita,'' mixed chorus *''El Manisero'', mixed chorus *''Inura'', mixed choir, strings, and percussion *''Ivo, Ivo'', high voice and ensemble *''Journey'', high voice and ensemble *''Oh Yemanja (Mother's Prayer)'', medium voice and ensemble *''Pueblo Mulato'', high voice and ensemble *''Reflections,'' soprano and mixed ensemble (text from poems by Rita Dove) *''Rezos'', mixed choir (text from Jamaica Kincaid) *''Singin' Sepia'', medium voice and ensemble (text from poems by Rita Dove) *''Sol de Doce'', vocal ensemble (6 to 12 singers), *''To and Fro,'' medium voice

Solo piano

*''2 Preludes (1966)'' *''Momentum (1984)'' *''Rituál (1987)'' *''Mística (2003)'' *''Variation (2004?)'' *''La Tina (2004?)''

Concert Band

*''Alegre (2003)''

Opera

*''Scourge of Hyacinths''

Films

*1993 – ''The Sensual Nature of Sound: 4 Composers – Laurie Anderson, Tania León, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros''. Directed by Michael Blackwood.

References

External links

Tania LeónPeermusic Classical: Tania Leon
Composer's Publisher and Bio
DiscographyBrooklyn College Conservatory of Music
at AfriClassical.com

Interviews

* * * *The unplanned, unstoppable career of composer Tania León. Interviewed by Tom Huizenga, December 2, 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Tania 1943 births Living people Harvard University staff 21st-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers Cuban classical composers Cuban opera composers Brooklyn College faculty Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni Women in electronic music Women conductors (music) Women classical composers Women opera composers 20th-century conductors (music) 21st-century conductors (music) 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers Women in Latin music Pulitzer Prize for Music winners Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Kennedy Center honorees