Alum

Neil Leonard

Professor; Artistic Director of the Berklee Interdisciplinary Arts Institute

Affiliated Departments

Electronic Production and Design (EPD)

nleonard@berklee.edu

617-747-8402

Neil Leonard's Website

Neil Leonard's Bandcamp

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Neil Leonard is a composer, saxophonist/clarinetist, and transdisciplinary artist. Leonard's work includes concerts for ensembles with live electronics, audio/visual installations, and multimedia performances. He maintains active collaborations in Canada, Cuba, China, Brazil, Burundi, Italy, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, and across the U.S. Leonard works with artists from film, video, installation, dance, and theater to create and perform music, often using immersive multichannel audio configurations.

Leonard's sound installations have been featured by Mass MoCA, Williams College Museum of Art, Peabody Essex Museum, MIT Media Lab, Havana Biennale (Cuba), and Bienal de Bahia (Brazil). His works include large-scale installations and performances with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Fujiko Nakaya, Phill Niblock, and Tony Oursler, which have been featured at the Tate Modern, Documenta, Venice Biennale, and Whitney Biennal.

Leonard was a Sacatar institute fellow, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation artist-in-residence, Fulbright Specialist Award recipient, and MIT's Art, Culture, and Technology research affiliate. He is a professor at the Berklee College of Music and the artistic director of the Berklee Interdisciplinary Arts Institute.

Courses Taught (6)

Control Systems in Advanced Production

EP-321

Programming in Max

EP-341

Advanced Seminar

EP-401

Creating Installations and Performance with Jitter

EP-426

Interdisciplinary Arts Institute Seminar

MTEC-475

Interdisciplinary Arts Institute Directed Study

MTEC-480

Career Highlights

Notes After Lockdown, commissioned by Morningside Music Bridge
Sonance for the Precession, produced in collaboration with Williams College Museum of Art
The Berklee Sessions, an album documenting Leonard's long-term collaboration with Robin Rimbaud
Marcel’s Window, presented at the Jazz Plaza International Festival in Cuba, performed with Joanne Brackeen
Led a group featuring the Muñequitos de Matanzas at Documenta 14 in Germany
Totems, for Don Byron, premiering at Carnegie Hall
Lavender Ruins, commissioned by Fujiko Nakaya for her installation, Fog Ruins, at the Franklin Park in Boston
A featured artist at the Marahaba Music Expo in Burundi, for an audience of 10,000 in Bujumbura
Quadraphonic sound installation purchased by the Hiranoya Hotel in Gamagori, Japan
Created 38 multimedia works with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons that are in the permanent collections of MoMA, Museum of Fine Arts, and the National Gallery of Canada

Awards

MIT's Art, Culture, and Technology research affiliate (2014-15)
Lucas Artists Residency Program participant (2018)
Rauschenberg Residency, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation (2016)
Fulbright Specialist Award, University of Gothenburg (2016)
International Winner, CubaDisco Awards (2015)
Fulbright Specialist Roster, U.S. State Department (2013–present)
Distinguished Faculty Award, Berklee College of Music (2011)

In Their Own Words

"I really enjoy advising students who are refining their portfolios in their final two semesters. I'm their reality check, sounding board, and idea factory."

"I want my students to be lifelong learners so they can adapt as the music industry changes. They make music in today's styles—creating everything from dance tracks, soundtracks, and algorithmic music to sound installations."

"At the same time, we take a step back and look at key issues of music and technology that won't wear out so quickly. We study ways to work with themes and develop material in modules. Students can advance their work with these tools—in contemporary styles—and at the same time 'bookmark' critical topics that they can explore and leverage for a lifetime."

"I teach my students that time management is a composition skill. The planning process is critical to making quality music efficiently. This doesn't mean you can't just write spontaneously; maybe the best thing you ever write will come out that way. But if you're in this for your entire life, you need to have more than one way to work because some days it's going to come out of you, and some days it won't."

"I believe in intuition and inspiration, and in luck. But what do you do when you don't have those? You've still got to get the job done. I zero in on strategies for doing this in my classes."