Ensemble New Romanticism
BIO Leonardo Le San
Leonardo Le San Celebrated composer and pianist Leonardo Le San has had a distinguished career of premiers, performances, awards, and citations in newspapers, magazines, and television as well as artist recordings. Premiers and Performances Le San’s upcoming compositional premieres in 2020 include a work for world renowned and Naxos artists, Duo Villa-Lobos.
The work is titled Chaconne Andino for cello and acoustic guitar. Leonardo’s other upcoming work is a sonata for viola/violin and piano titled The condor and woodpecker sonata. The new work was commissioned by Dr. Ross DeBarbeladen to be premiered in the United States in the fall of 2020. Leonardo’s compositions have aired on the Euro-Channel of Allegro-HD and Selecta TV on demand through both networks' classical channels airing throughout the Americas.
Le San’s recent work titled “Blessed are the Poor” won first place at the Golden Key competition in Vienna of 2019. In the same year, Le San was invited to close a chamber music series in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the Astolfi Auditorium. There, Ensemble Nuevo Romanticismo performed some of Le San’s award-winning compositions. Le San in collaboration with Argentine composer/director M Charbonnier founded The New Music of The Americas project in Buenos Aires. Leonardo’s other work “Migrant Species” received second place in the Golden Key competition in Vienna of 2018.
The composer and pianist also performed the winning work at the Dyffryn Mansion in Wales, United Kingdom. Le San’s Suite for Piano No.1 was included in WHYY’s Public Radio music library in the USA. Leonardo Le San made his Carnegie Hall debut in New York City in 2010. There he performed the world premiere of his Suite for Piano, The Voices of My Town, as well as interpreted works by Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and Prokofiev. The Epoch Times recommended Le San’s concert as one of the newspaper’s “NYC Event Picks.” In the same year, Leonardo was awarded the “EL Award” for his contributions to arts and culture in the New York Tri-state area. Le San has performed as composer and pianist at The White House, The Harvard Musical Association, The Merkin Hall, The Gershwin Theater in NYC, The Delaware Theater Company, The Ibrahim Theater in Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Museum of Art and venues in Annapolis MD, Miami, Florida as well as internationally. Some of Leonardo’s recordings and podcasts have aired on public radio in the US (WRTI), as well as television networks in Colombia, South America.
In 2017 Leonardo was one of the Selected live musicians by New York Times best-selling author, Dr. Deepak Chopra, and Grammy laureates Kabir Sehgal and Paul Avgerinos to perform with them in New York City. Le San composed “The Hybrid Ballet” for the symphony orchestra commissioned by Ballet 180 in 2015. It premiered at The Painted Bride Theater in Philadelphia. In 2017, he was commissioned by Emmy nominated TV producer, Brian Glazer to compose new music for the University City Arts League’s 50th anniversary in Philadelphia. In 2008, Leonardo was commissioned by Olivet Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia to compose original chamber music and vocal works. Le San: Sextet No.1 and a sacred vocalwork, were premiered by stellar alumni from the Curtis Institute of Music including Soprano Ashley Thouret and Christopher Falzone. In 2007 Le San was commissioned to set Irish folk songs into a cycle of Art Song