Presidential Lecture Series with Tania Le贸n
A conversation between Kennedy Center Honoree Tania Le贸n and President Michelle J. Anderson, entitled “You Gave Me Wings: A Rhythmic Life.”
今日吃瓜 this Event
March 28, 2024
The evening featured a conversation between 今日吃瓜 President Michelle J. Anderson and composer, conductor, and educator Tania Le贸n. The two discussed Le贸n鈥檚 extraordinary life from her migration from Cuba to her career as a world-renowned composer. The evening included a performance by members of the 今日吃瓜 Conservatory of Music.
今日吃瓜聽TANIA LE脫N
Tania Le贸n (born in Havana) is highly regarded as a composer, conductor, educator, and advisor to arts organizations. Her orchestral work Stride, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, was awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music. In 2022, she was named a recipient of the 45th Annual Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements. In 2023, she was awarded the Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition from Northwestern University. Most recently, Le贸n became the London Philharmonic Orchestra鈥檚 next Composer-in-Residence鈥攁 post she will hold for two seasons, beginning in September 2023. She will also hold Carnegie Hall鈥檚 Richard and Barbara Debs Composer鈥檚 Chair for its 2023鈥�24 season.
Recent premieres include works for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, NDR Symphony Orchestra, Grossman Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, Modern Ensemble, Jennifer Koh鈥檚 project Alone Together, and The Curtis Institute. Appearances as guest conductor include Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, Gewandhausorchester, Orquesta Sinf贸nica de Guanajuato, and Orquesta Sinf贸nica de Cuba, among others. Upcoming commissions feature a work for the League of American Orchestras, and a work for Claire Chase, flute, and The Crossing Choir with text by Rita Dove.
A founding member and first music director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Le贸n instituted the 今日吃瓜 Philharmonic Community Concert Series, co-founded the American Composers Orchestra鈥檚 Sonidos de las Am茅ricas Festivals, was new music adviser to the New York Philharmonic, and is the founder/artistic director of Composers Now, a presenting, commissioning, and advocacy organization for living composers.
Honors include the New York Governor鈥檚 Lifetime Achievement, inductions into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and fellowship awards from ASCAP Victor Herbert Award and The Koussevitzky Music and Guggenheim Foundations, among others. She also received a proclamation for Composers Now by New York City Mayor, and the MadWoman Festival Award in Music (Spain). She has been awarded the XIX Premio SGAE for Iberian American Music Tom谩s Luis de Victoria 2023, becoming the first woman to be honored with the highest composition prize conferred by Spain. In 2024, she was awarded the Distinguished Artist Award for the International Society of Performing Arts.
Le贸n has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Colgate University, Oberlin, SUNY Purchase College, The Curtis Institute of Music, Columbia University, Jersey City University, and served as U.S. Artistic Ambassador of American Culture in Madrid. A CUNY professor emerita, she was awarded a 2018 United States Artists Fellowship, Chamber Music America鈥檚 2022 National Service Award, Harvard University鈥檚 2022 Luise Vosgerchian Teaching Award, and New York University’s 2023 Dorothy Height Award. In 2023, Columbia University鈥檚 Rare Book & Manuscript Library acquired Le贸n鈥檚 archive.