Resources for:
October 18, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. CDT
Ben Bolter, conductor
Jason Gluck, assistant conductor
Tania León, guest composer and 2023 winner of the Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition
Maximo Grano de Oro, lighting designer
Sam Bessler, assistant lighting designer
Michael Gordon, Yo Shakespeare
Elliott Lupp, I think my legs might be broken (world premiere)
Jason Gluck, conductor
Sam Pluta, Actuate/Resonate
Tania León, Toque
Michael Gordon, Yo Shakespeare
I met James Poke, founder of the London-based ensemble Icebreaker, in Amsterdam during the intermission of the premiere of Louis Andriessen’s De Materie in 1989. I was standing right next to James, and Louis came over and said, “You and you are friends.” We found a lot to talk about, and, some time later, James called me in a bit of a panic: Icebreaker was making a recording and some of the music hadn’t been completed. Would I be willing to write a new piece for them—quickly?
I was living in Amsterdam at the time and started writing immediately, using a primitive musical notation program called HB Engraver. HB Engraver didn’t have barlines—you put them in yourself. It also allowed me to write odd numbers of triplets, one or two triplets by themselves. I started experimenting with these oddly numbered triplets, finding some joyful, exuberant rhythms that sounded great but looked impossible to play. I discovered, however, that I could put barlines into the music and make measures in which the three triplet notes are split into groups of one and two, and it would all still add up.
This is the origin of the split triplet, which I use throughout Yo Shakespeare, as well as in Trance, Love Bead, and other pieces. In Yo Shakespeare, I was able to achieve something that I first attempted to create when I wrote Thou Shalt/Thou Shalt Not!, which is to have a jagged, interrupted rhythmic plot that at the same time feels pulse based and moves forward energetically. I wanted to write visceral music, and I thought of Yo Shakespeare as three bands playing simultaneously, at different but related speeds. I divided the 13 musicians into three groups, one playing the 16th-note pulse, one playing eighth notes and split triplets and, finally, one playing dotted eighths and quarter notes.
One of the oddities of working with Icebreaker is that they sent over a list of rules, a manifesto of sorts, that they asked me to follow, including a rule that the band has final approval of the title of the piece. For fun I submitted three titles and asked them to choose. Yo Shakespeare was a title I came up with because a friend of mine had begun calling me Shakespeare as a way to connect me in his mind to “culture.” I also thought the title was a nice nod from an American composer to a group of UK musicians.
—Michael Gordon
Elliot Lupp, I think my legs might be broken
The material within this piece originates from a recent time of chaotic change where I felt an exponentially deep sense of loss, loneliness, hurt, and a resulting sense of self loathing. This led to an intense feeling of being afraid and “stuck”, and trying frantically to “figure my stuff out” in a failed attempt to keep moving forward. These feelings brought with it a fair amount of new physical and emotional pain surrounding my identity and physical health. Although I am optimistic in knowing I am not alone in having these feelings, it was almost as if both of my legs had been broken. Two parts of me that I thought I had figured out and mastered the use of, only to realize how fragile/needed they are. As one would hope, broken legs heal. Although I fear the possibility of them healing wrong or even breaking again.
The pacing, electronic sounds, and sudden bursts of material within this piece mirror the anxious and often chaotic cycles of emotions relating to recent fears, trauma, and intense moments of getting stuck and unstuck, all the while trying to find your way to some normalcy and eventual sense of stability without truly ever knowing if it will come.
—Elliot Lupp
Sam Pluta, Actuate/Resonate
Actuate/Resonate was commissioned by the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition for the premiere performance by Grossman Ensemble, UChicago’s incredible ensemble-in-resedence. This piece was written to take advantage of the specific acoustic qualities of the Performance Hall at the University of Chicago, where even the quietest sound on the stage is heard as if it were right in front of the listener. The piece begins with an attack of synthesized drum sounds and instrumental orchestrations of those same drum sounds. After a brief introduction, time freezes, and we enter ten minutes of relative stasis, as if we have zoomed into a single attack to examine its gradual unfolding. Suddenly, around the 11 minute mark of the work, we continue where we left off in the fifth bar. The ensemble has become a giant synthesized drum machine. Electronics can’t help but join in on the fun. The piano goes on a rogue mission.
Tania León, Toque
The word “toque” in Spanish means “touch” and is used not just for physical touch, but also to signify playing an instrument, playing a game, sounding an alarm, or giving something a finishing touch. This composition is inspired by a famous Cuban dance tune (or danzón) called “Almendra,” which means “almond” in English. “Almendra” was composed in 1938 by the Cuban band leader Abelardito Valdes. León explains that this tune is so well-known that a Cuban needs to hear only two notes of it to recognize the piece. Danzón is the official dance music of Cuba, and is based on European ballroom dancing. It is elegant and virtuosic and generally has a light and sprightly feel.
Ben Bolter
See Full BioBen Bolter
CloseMM, INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Associate Director, Institute for New Music. Ben Bolter made his orchestral conducting debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at age 25, with the Washington Post praising his performance: “Bolter spotlighted the showiest aspects...and made it look easy.” As part of Chicago's acclaimed Ear Taxi Festival, his world premiere of Drew Baker's NOX was named Chicago's Best Classical Music Performance of 2016 by the Third Coast Review. John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune remarked: "[Drew Baker's] NOX made an altogether striking close to an absorbing, eclectic program, quite the best of the Ear Taxi events..." Bolter has also served as an assistant conductor with the Indianapolis Symphony and has been a frequent guest at the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Bolter is a regular conductor and collaborator with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). He has also worked with contemporary groups and soloists including Fulcrum Point New Music Project, Third Coast Percussion, Spektral Quartet, Indiana University New Music Ensemble, Square Peg Round Hole, Claire Chase, and Tony Arnold. In fall 2018, he led the Grossman Ensemble in their inaugural performance as part of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition at University of Chicago and gave world premieres by composers Shulamit Ran, Sam Pluta, Tonia Ko, and David Rakowski. He has also given premieres by acclaimed composers Marcos Balter, Anthony Cheung, Drew Baker, Matthew Peterson, and Clint Needham among others and has worked closely with composers such as Steve Reich, John Luther Adams, David Lang, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Ashley Fure, Hans Thomalla ,and Andrew Norman.
Bolter has also been recognized for his work with youth orchestras. For six years, he served as Music Director of the Conservatory Orchestras at the Merit School of Music, where his Philharmonic Orchestra was regularly featured live on WFMT and in Chicago Symphony Center. He is also the former Artistic Director of The People’s Music School Youth Orchestras and former Music Director of the New England Conservatory Youth Festival Orchestra. Additionally, he has worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's annual Chicago Youth in Music Festival, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, Oakland Youth Orchestras, and the 2014 MMEA Senior District Orchestra Festival in Boston.
Bolter holds a Bachelor of Music in oboe performance from the New England Conservatory. He received a Master of Music in orchestral conducting from Indiana University, where he also served as adjunct faculty for four years. In addition to his work as a conductor, he is also an active keyboardist and songwriter and has performed in original and cover bands throughout the Midwest.
Tania León
See Full BioTania León
CloseTania León (b. Havana, Cuba), a vital personality on today’s music scene, is highly regarded as a composer and conductor and for her accomplishments as an educator and advisor to arts organizations. She has been the subject of profiles on ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS, BBC, Telemundo, independent films, and Univision, including their noted series Orgullo Hispano, which celebrates living American Latinos whose contributions in society have been invaluable. In July 2022, she was named a recipient of the 45th Annual Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements, along with George Clooney, Amy Grant, Gladys Knight, and U2. In 2023, she was awarded the Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition from Northwestern University. Most recently, León became the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s next Composer-in-Residence—a post she will hold for two seasons, beginning in September 2023. She will also hold Carnegie Hall’s Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair for its 2023-2024 season.
León’s orchestral work Stride, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic in celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, was awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Recent premieres include Ser for the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Pasajes for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Symphony; Ritmicas for the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition’s Grossman Ensemble; Anima for Jennifer Koh’s Alone Together in response to the Coronavirus pandemic; Mujer, Define Mujer for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus with lyrics by N.Y. Young Poet Laureate Aaliyah C. Daniels; and Pa’lante for the International Contemporary Ensemble and YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). In May 2022, Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt, Germany) performed Happy New Ears, a portrait of composer Tania León, and in June 2022, León was a Featured Composer at the Kreatives Multitasking conference (Basel, Switzerland), with works performed by the Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo and ensemble oktopus.
Appearances as guest conductor include Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, Gewandhausorchester, Orquesta Sinfónica de Guanajuato, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuba, among others. Upcoming commissions feature a work for the League of American Orchestras, a work for flutist Claire Chase, and The Crossing Choir with text by Rita Dove.
León’s opera Scourge of Hyacinths, based on a play by Wole Soyinka with staging and design by Robert Wilson, received over 20 performances throughout Europe and Mexico. Commissioned by Hans Werner Henze and the city of Munich for the Fourth Munich Biennale, it took home the coveted BMW Prize, and the aria “Oh Yemanja” (“Mother’s Prayer”) was recorded by Dawn Upshaw on her Nonesuch CD, The World So Wide.
Past commissions include works for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Arts, NDR Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, New World Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Fest der Kontinente (Hamburg, Germany), The Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Fromm Music Foundation, Los Angeles Master Chorale, DanceBrazil, and Dance Theatre of Harlem.
León’s compositions have been performed by such orchestras and ensembles as the Gewandhausorchester, NDR Symphony Orchestra, and Ensemble Modern (Germany); Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and Basel Sinfonietta (Switzerland); London Sinfonietta (England); China National Symphony; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy (France); and Orquesta del Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico).
León has collaborated with poets, writers, and directors including John Ashbery, Margaret Atwood, Rita Dove, Wendy Kesselman, Jamaica Kincaid, Mark Lamos, Fae Myenne Ng, Julie Taymor, Derek Walcott, and Robert Wilson.
Past highlights include a Composer Portrait at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre in New York City and the hour-long, multimedia work Drummin’, featuring percussionists of diverse cultures and performed by the New World Symphony in Miami and members of the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, Germany. León was one of the first artists to be featured by Harlem Stage in Aaron Davis Hall’s initiative WaterWorks, and her work was featured in the celebration of some of the most prestigious composers of our time, including Pierre Boulez’s 80th birthday, Gyorgy Ligeti’s 80th birthday, and the Copland Centennial.
As a guest conductor, León has appeared with the Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus of Marseille and Colonne Orchestra (France), Beethovenhalle Orchestra (Germany), Geneva Chamber Orchestra (Switzerland), Orquesta Sinfonica de Asturias, and Orquesta y Coro de la Communidad de Madrid (Spain), Santa Cecilia Orchestra (Italy), Sadler’s Wells Orchestra (England), Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra (Mexico), Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá (Colombia), Orquesta Sinfónica de El Salvador (El Salvador), Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuba, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra (South Africa), and the New York Philharmonic, among others.
In 1969, Tania León became a founding member and first music director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, establishing the Dance Theatre’s Music Department, Music School and Orchestra. She instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series in 1978, and founded the Sampler Concerts series presented by the Whitney Museum of American Art at Atria. In 1994, in her capacity as Latin American Music Advisor, she co-founded the American Composers Orchestra’s Sonidos de las Américas festivals. From 1993 to 1997, she was New Music Advisor to Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic.
León is the founder and Artistic Director of the nonprofit organization and festival Composers Now, created in New York City in 2010. Composers Now is dedicated to the empowerment of living composers by celebrating the diversity of their voices and honoring the significance of their artistic contributions to the cultural fabric of society. In 2017, a proclamation on behalf of Mayor Bill de Blasio was presented to Composers Now in recognition of their contributions to living composers (composersnow.org).
León has lectured at the prestigious Mosse-Lectures at Humboldt University in Berlin and at Harvard University and University of Chicago. In 2012, she was the Andrew Mellon Foundation’s Distinguished Scholar at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has been visiting professor at Yale University, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Kansas, Purchase College, and the Musikschule in Hamburg, Germany, among others, and she served as Composer’s Mentor at the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute. She was also a guest composer/conductor at the Musikschule in Hamburg, and at Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. In 2020, she was the Robert M. Trotter Lecturer at College Music Society.
León has received honorary doctorate degrees from Colgate University, Oberlin, SUNY Purchase College, and the Curtis Institute of Music, and served as U.S. Artistic Ambassador of American Culture in Madrid, Spain. A professor at Brooklyn College and at the Graduate Center, CUNY since 1985, she was named the Claire and Leonard Tow Professor in Music in 2000, Distinguished Professor of the City University of New York in 2006, and Professor Emerita in September 2019.
Honors include the New York Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award; American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Music; fellowships and awards from the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Fromm Music Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, NYSCA, Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Fund, ASCAP, and Meet the Composer; Symphony Space’s Access to the Arts; and artist residencies at Bellagio, Citivella Ranieri, MacDowell, and the American Academy in Rome in Italy, among others. León was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2010 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018. Inura for voices, strings, and percussion received nominations from the Grammy Awards and the Latin Grammy Awards in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category in 2012. León is also the recipient of the 2013 ASCAP Victor Herbert Award, the 2017 MadWoman Festival Award in Music in Madrid, Spain, and a 2018 United States Artists Fellowship, as well as Chamber Music America’s 2022 Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award for her significant and lasting contribution to the chamber music field. Most recently, she received Harvard University’s 2022 Luise Vosgerchian Teaching Award.
León serves as an honorary chair for the Recording Academy’s Songwriters & Composers Wing. She is a member of the boards of directors of the New York Philharmonic and the ASCAP Foundation.
In 2023, Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library acquired Tania León’s archive.
Ben Bolter
CloseMM, INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Associate Director, Institute for New Music. Ben Bolter made his orchestral conducting debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at age 25, with the Washington Post praising his performance: “Bolter spotlighted the showiest aspects...and made it look easy.” As part of Chicago's acclaimed Ear Taxi Festival, his world premiere of Drew Baker's NOX was named Chicago's Best Classical Music Performance of 2016 by the Third Coast Review. John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune remarked: "[Drew Baker's] NOX made an altogether striking close to an absorbing, eclectic program, quite the best of the Ear Taxi events..." Bolter has also served as an assistant conductor with the Indianapolis Symphony and has been a frequent guest at the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Bolter is a regular conductor and collaborator with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). He has also worked with contemporary groups and soloists including Fulcrum Point New Music Project, Third Coast Percussion, Spektral Quartet, Indiana University New Music Ensemble, Square Peg Round Hole, Claire Chase, and Tony Arnold. In fall 2018, he led the Grossman Ensemble in their inaugural performance as part of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition at University of Chicago and gave world premieres by composers Shulamit Ran, Sam Pluta, Tonia Ko, and David Rakowski. He has also given premieres by acclaimed composers Marcos Balter, Anthony Cheung, Drew Baker, Matthew Peterson, and Clint Needham among others and has worked closely with composers such as Steve Reich, John Luther Adams, David Lang, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Ashley Fure, Hans Thomalla ,and Andrew Norman.
Bolter has also been recognized for his work with youth orchestras. For six years, he served as Music Director of the Conservatory Orchestras at the Merit School of Music, where his Philharmonic Orchestra was regularly featured live on WFMT and in Chicago Symphony Center. He is also the former Artistic Director of The People’s Music School Youth Orchestras and former Music Director of the New England Conservatory Youth Festival Orchestra. Additionally, he has worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's annual Chicago Youth in Music Festival, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, Oakland Youth Orchestras, and the 2014 MMEA Senior District Orchestra Festival in Boston.
Bolter holds a Bachelor of Music in oboe performance from the New England Conservatory. He received a Master of Music in orchestral conducting from Indiana University, where he also served as adjunct faculty for four years. In addition to his work as a conductor, he is also an active keyboardist and songwriter and has performed in original and cover bands throughout the Midwest.
Tania León
CloseTania León (b. Havana, Cuba), a vital personality on today’s music scene, is highly regarded as a composer and conductor and for her accomplishments as an educator and advisor to arts organizations. She has been the subject of profiles on ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS, BBC, Telemundo, independent films, and Univision, including their noted series Orgullo Hispano, which celebrates living American Latinos whose contributions in society have been invaluable. In July 2022, she was named a recipient of the 45th Annual Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements, along with George Clooney, Amy Grant, Gladys Knight, and U2. In 2023, she was awarded the Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition from Northwestern University. Most recently, León became the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s next Composer-in-Residence—a post she will hold for two seasons, beginning in September 2023. She will also hold Carnegie Hall’s Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair for its 2023-2024 season.
León’s orchestral work Stride, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic in celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, was awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Recent premieres include Ser for the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Pasajes for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Symphony; Ritmicas for the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition’s Grossman Ensemble; Anima for Jennifer Koh’s Alone Together in response to the Coronavirus pandemic; Mujer, Define Mujer for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus with lyrics by N.Y. Young Poet Laureate Aaliyah C. Daniels; and Pa’lante for the International Contemporary Ensemble and YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). In May 2022, Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt, Germany) performed Happy New Ears, a portrait of composer Tania León, and in June 2022, León was a Featured Composer at the Kreatives Multitasking conference (Basel, Switzerland), with works performed by the Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo and ensemble oktopus.
Appearances as guest conductor include Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, Gewandhausorchester, Orquesta Sinfónica de Guanajuato, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuba, among others. Upcoming commissions feature a work for the League of American Orchestras, a work for flutist Claire Chase, and The Crossing Choir with text by Rita Dove.
León’s opera Scourge of Hyacinths, based on a play by Wole Soyinka with staging and design by Robert Wilson, received over 20 performances throughout Europe and Mexico. Commissioned by Hans Werner Henze and the city of Munich for the Fourth Munich Biennale, it took home the coveted BMW Prize, and the aria “Oh Yemanja” (“Mother’s Prayer”) was recorded by Dawn Upshaw on her Nonesuch CD, The World So Wide.
Past commissions include works for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Arts, NDR Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, New World Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Fest der Kontinente (Hamburg, Germany), The Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Fromm Music Foundation, Los Angeles Master Chorale, DanceBrazil, and Dance Theatre of Harlem.
León’s compositions have been performed by such orchestras and ensembles as the Gewandhausorchester, NDR Symphony Orchestra, and Ensemble Modern (Germany); Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and Basel Sinfonietta (Switzerland); London Sinfonietta (England); China National Symphony; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy (France); and Orquesta del Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico).
León has collaborated with poets, writers, and directors including John Ashbery, Margaret Atwood, Rita Dove, Wendy Kesselman, Jamaica Kincaid, Mark Lamos, Fae Myenne Ng, Julie Taymor, Derek Walcott, and Robert Wilson.
Past highlights include a Composer Portrait at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre in New York City and the hour-long, multimedia work Drummin’, featuring percussionists of diverse cultures and performed by the New World Symphony in Miami and members of the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, Germany. León was one of the first artists to be featured by Harlem Stage in Aaron Davis Hall’s initiative WaterWorks, and her work was featured in the celebration of some of the most prestigious composers of our time, including Pierre Boulez’s 80th birthday, Gyorgy Ligeti’s 80th birthday, and the Copland Centennial.
As a guest conductor, León has appeared with the Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus of Marseille and Colonne Orchestra (France), Beethovenhalle Orchestra (Germany), Geneva Chamber Orchestra (Switzerland), Orquesta Sinfonica de Asturias, and Orquesta y Coro de la Communidad de Madrid (Spain), Santa Cecilia Orchestra (Italy), Sadler’s Wells Orchestra (England), Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra (Mexico), Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá (Colombia), Orquesta Sinfónica de El Salvador (El Salvador), Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuba, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra (South Africa), and the New York Philharmonic, among others.
In 1969, Tania León became a founding member and first music director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, establishing the Dance Theatre’s Music Department, Music School and Orchestra. She instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series in 1978, and founded the Sampler Concerts series presented by the Whitney Museum of American Art at Atria. In 1994, in her capacity as Latin American Music Advisor, she co-founded the American Composers Orchestra’s Sonidos de las Américas festivals. From 1993 to 1997, she was New Music Advisor to Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic.
León is the founder and Artistic Director of the nonprofit organization and festival Composers Now, created in New York City in 2010. Composers Now is dedicated to the empowerment of living composers by celebrating the diversity of their voices and honoring the significance of their artistic contributions to the cultural fabric of society. In 2017, a proclamation on behalf of Mayor Bill de Blasio was presented to Composers Now in recognition of their contributions to living composers (composersnow.org).
León has lectured at the prestigious Mosse-Lectures at Humboldt University in Berlin and at Harvard University and University of Chicago. In 2012, she was the Andrew Mellon Foundation’s Distinguished Scholar at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has been visiting professor at Yale University, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Kansas, Purchase College, and the Musikschule in Hamburg, Germany, among others, and she served as Composer’s Mentor at the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute. She was also a guest composer/conductor at the Musikschule in Hamburg, and at Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. In 2020, she was the Robert M. Trotter Lecturer at College Music Society.
León has received honorary doctorate degrees from Colgate University, Oberlin, SUNY Purchase College, and the Curtis Institute of Music, and served as U.S. Artistic Ambassador of American Culture in Madrid, Spain. A professor at Brooklyn College and at the Graduate Center, CUNY since 1985, she was named the Claire and Leonard Tow Professor in Music in 2000, Distinguished Professor of the City University of New York in 2006, and Professor Emerita in September 2019.
Honors include the New York Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award; American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Music; fellowships and awards from the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Fromm Music Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, NYSCA, Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Fund, ASCAP, and Meet the Composer; Symphony Space’s Access to the Arts; and artist residencies at Bellagio, Citivella Ranieri, MacDowell, and the American Academy in Rome in Italy, among others. León was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2010 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018. Inura for voices, strings, and percussion received nominations from the Grammy Awards and the Latin Grammy Awards in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category in 2012. León is also the recipient of the 2013 ASCAP Victor Herbert Award, the 2017 MadWoman Festival Award in Music in Madrid, Spain, and a 2018 United States Artists Fellowship, as well as Chamber Music America’s 2022 Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award for her significant and lasting contribution to the chamber music field. Most recently, she received Harvard University’s 2022 Luise Vosgerchian Teaching Award.
León serves as an honorary chair for the Recording Academy’s Songwriters & Composers Wing. She is a member of the boards of directors of the New York Philharmonic and the ASCAP Foundation.
In 2023, Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library acquired Tania León’s archive.