Jeff Leonard

Jeffrey Leonard is a summa cum laude graduate of Berklee College of Music, having majored in music education and jazz composition and arranging. He holds a master’s degree in music education from Boston University. Leonard was the director of bands and the jazz program at Lexington High School starting in 1983, and served as performing arts coordinator for Lexington Public Schools from 2008 until his retirement in 2017. He is the recipient of the Massachusetts Music Educators Distinguished Service Award, the Massachusetts Jazz Educators Lifetime Achievement Award, the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association Hall of Fame Award, Lexington Public School Teacher of the Year Award, and the Dr. Michael Fiveash Teaching Award. He is an associate professor at Berklee College of Music, an adjunct professor at Boston University, and co-director of the Youth Jazz Orchestra in the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division. Leonard is a multi-reed player who can often be found in theater pit orchestras, as a performer and conductor, all around the Boston metropolitan area. He is also an in-demand clinician, adjudicator, and conductor for regional, state, and national music festivals, having conducted all-state concert and jazz bands throughout New England.