Tania León

Tania León

Tania Justina León (born May 14, 1943 in Havana ) is a Cuban composer, conductor and music teacher.

Life

León attended the Conservatorio Carlos Alfredo Peyrellade and the National Conservatory in her hometown. In 1967 she went to the USA and continued her education at New York University . In 1969 she founded the Dance Theater of Harlem with Arthur Mitchell , which she headed as music director until 1978. She has composed ballets such as Tones (1973), Dougla (with Geoffrey Holder , 1974) and Spiritual Suite (with Marian Anderson , 1976) for the ensemble .

Since the 1970s she has performed as a conductor at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto (1971) and the Nervi Festival in Genoa (1972), with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid , the Marseille Symphony Orchestra , the Orquesta de la Communidad y Coro de Madrid , the Orchestra de Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Gewandhaus Orchestra , the National Symphony of South Africa , the Louisville Orchestra and the New World Symphony .

From 1985 she taught at Brooklyn College , where she was named Tow Distinguished Professor in 2000 . She also gave master classes at the Hamburg University of Music , Yale University , Harvard University , in Yaddo and in the Bellagio Center of the Rockefeller Foundation . In 1978 she founded the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series , and in 1994 she helped found the American Composers Orchestra Sonidos de las Americas Festivals as a consultant for Latin American music . Between 1993 and 1997 she worked as a new music consultant for Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra .

León has been a Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York since 2006 . In 2010 she founded the New York contemporary music festival Composers Now . In the same year she became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters , and in 2018 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Works

• Tones , ballet, 1970
• The Beloved , ballet (with Judith Hamilton ), 1972
• Haiku , ballet, 1973
• Dougla , ballet (with Geoffrey Holder ), 1974
• Namiac Poems for voices and mixed ensemble, 1975
• Spiritual Suite for narrator, two sopranos, choir and ensemble, 1976
• Concerto Criollo for orchestra, 1980
• Pet's Suite for flute and piano, 1980
• Maggie Magalita , music for the drama by Wendy Kesselman , 1980
• Belé , ballet (with Geoffrey Holder), 1981
• Permutation Seven for wind instruments, strings and percussion, 1981
• De-Orishas for two sopranos and instruments (text by Betty Neals ), 1982
• The Golden Windows , game in three acts (text by Robert Wilson), 1982
• Ascend for brass and percussion, 1983
• Four Pieces for Cello Solo , 1983
• Momentum for piano, 1984
• ¡Paisanos Semos! for guitar, 1984
• Batá for orchestra, 1985, 1988
• A La Par for piano and percussion, 1986
• Singin 'Sepia , five songs based on texts by Rita Dove for soprano, clarinet, violin and piano four hands, 1986
• Elegia a Paul Robeson for violin, cello and piano, 1987
• Rituál for piano, 1987
• Pueblo Mulato Three songs based on poems by Nicolás Guillén for soprano and instruments, 1987
• Kabiosile for orchestra, 1988
• Parajota Delaté for wind instruments, strings and piano, 1988
• Heart of Ours - A Piece for tenor, male choir and instruments (text by R. Sandecki ), 1988
• Batéy for two sopranos, countertenor, two tenors and bass, 1989
• To and Fro , Four songs based on poems by Alison Knowles for medium voice and piano, 1990
• Journey for high voice, flute and harp, 1990
• Carabalí for orchestra, 1991
• Indígena , 1991
• Ajiaco for electric guitar and piano, 1992
• Arenas d'un Tiempo for clarinet, cello and piano, 1992
• Crossings for brass, 1992
• Son Sonora for flute and guitar, 1993
• Scourge of Hyacinths , opera based on a play by Wole Soyinka , 1994, 1999
• Para Viola y Orquesta , 1994
• sin normas ajenas for wind instruments, strings and percussion, 1994
• “ Or like a ... ” for baritone, cello and percussion (text by John Ashbery ), 1994
• Seven Spirituals for orchestra, 1995
• Hechizos , 1995
• Tau for electric oboe, electric bass and keyboards, 1995
• De Color , 1996-97
• Drummin ' , 1997
• Saóko for wind quintet, 1997
• Sol de Doce for twelve solo voices (text by Pedro Mir ), 1997
• Entre nos for clarinet, bassoon and piano, 1998
• Bailarín for guitar, 1998
• Horizons for orchestra, 1999
• May the Road Be Free for children's choir and percussion (text by John Marsden ), 1999
• Alegre for wind ensemble, 2000
• Caracol for violin, viola, cello, percussion and piano, 2000
• De Memorias for woodwinds, 2000
• Fanfarria for brass and percussion, 2000
• Fanfarria for brass and percussion, 2000
• Satiné for two pianos, 2000
• At the Fountain of Mpindelela , 2000
• Turning , song cycle for soprano, piano and cello, 2000
• Ivo, Ivo for soprano and instruments, (text by Manuel Martin ), 2000
• Desde ... for orchestra, 2001
• Rezos for mixed choir (text by Jamaica Kincaid ), 2001
• Canto , song cycle for baritone, clarinet, marimba, cello and piano, 2001
• Axon for violin and computer, 2002
• A Row of Buttons for female choir (text by Fae Myenne Ng ), 2002
• Love After Love for soprano and marimba (text by Derek Walcott ), 2002
• Duende for baritone and percussion, 2003
• Mistica for piano, 2003
• Hebras d 'Luz for electric viola, 2004
• La Tina for piano, 2004
• Variación for piano, 2004
• Samarkand for speaker, mixed choir, children's choir saxophone and percussion, 2005
• Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel for baritone and orchestra, 2005
• Tumbao for piano, 2005
• Reflections for soprano and instrumental ensemble (text by Rita Dove), 2006
• Toque , 2006
• Para Noah for piano, 2006
• Metisse for mixed choir and percussion, 2006
• Reflections for soprano and instruments (text by Rita Dove), 2006
• Raices (Tabla Raza) , 2007
• Abanico for violin and computer, 2007
• Alma for flute and piano, 2007
• Atwood Songs for Soprano and Piano (Text by Margaret Atwood ), 2007
• Ácana for orchestra, 2008
• Tiempo en Clave for cello and percussion, 2008
• Ancients for two sopranos and instruments, 2008
• Estampas for mixed choir (texts by Maya Islas , Iraida Iturralde and Alina Galiano ), 2008
• Inura , ballet, 2009
• Esencia para cuarteto de cuerdas , 2009
• Cuarteto No. 2 , string quartet, 2011
• Rimas Tropicales for girls' choir (text by Carlos Pintado ), 2011
• Cumba Cumbakin for instrumental ensemble

Web links

• Homepage of Tania León
• AfriClassical - Tania Justina León
• Tania León - Peermusic
• Tania León - Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
• Tania León: What it Means to be an American Composer . NewMusicBox