Tania Leon
| Tania Leon | |
|---|---|
Tania Leon
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| Born |
May 14, 1943 Havana, Cuba |
| Nationality | Cuban-American |
| Occupation | Composer / conductor |
| Awards | New York Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award |
| Website | http://www.tanialeon.com/ |
Tania León (born May 14, 1943) is a Cuban-born composer and conductor who is also an educator and advisor to arts organizations.
She was born Tania Justina León in Havana, Cuba, of mixed French, Spanish, Chinese, African, and Cuban heritage. 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 National Conservatory (M.A., 1964). In 1967 she settled in New York City, continuing her studies at New York University (B.S., 1971; M.S., 1973).
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, 1974) and Belé (with Geoffrey Holder; 1981).
She instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series in 1978 and in 1994 co-founded the American Composers Orchestra Sonidos de las Americas Festivals as Latin American Music Advisor. From 1993 to 1997, she was New Music Advisor to Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic. She also served as Latin American Music Advisor to the American Composers Orchestra until 2001. In March 2001 her orchestral work Desde... was premiered by the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
She has been guest conductor with the Beethovenhalle Orchestra, Bonn, the Gewandhausorchester, Leipzig, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Rome, the National Symphony Orchestra of South Africa, Johannesburg, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, the Netherlands, and the New York Philharmonic, among others.
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