{"id":341,"date":"2025-12-16T08:52:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T13:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/concerts-you-missed\/?p=341"},"modified":"2025-12-16T08:52:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T13:52:47","slug":"honoring-tania-leon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/concerts-you-missed\/2025\/12\/16\/honoring-tania-leon\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring Tania Leon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Mohammad Aurangzeb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I attended my first contemporary classical concert on Thursday, September 25th, 2025, at the Miller Theatre, located at Columbia University. I went to hear \u201cHonoring Tania Leon\u201d. I had never heard of Tania Leon until I was assigned by my music professor to attend the concert. Entering the Miller Theatre, I was a bit nervous since I chose to sit in the second row from the front, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Walking into Miller Theatre, I was welcomed by two female ushers who were very sweet and provided me with a booklet that outlined what to expect during the concert, as well as some background information. The theatre itself was medium-sized. I did arrive a few minutes early, so at first it didn’t seem like many people were going to attend. To my surprise the theatre was almost full by the time the concert started. There were many different groups of people that attended, but to my shock there were a lot of older folks that packed up the theatre, as I was only expecting students. \u201cHonoring Tania Leon\u201d was Co- produced with Columbia University School of Arts. In 1981 the William Schuman Award of Columbia School of the Arts was established in honor of its first recipient, William Schuman. \u201cThis award is given to recognize lifetime achievements of American composers whose works have been widely performed and generally appreciated to be of lasting significance. Tania Leon was the tenth recipient of this prestigious award\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Tania Leon is a very respected composer who has accomplished so much in her life. She is considered a big name in concert music. She is a composer of contemporary classical music. Her career started in the late 20th century and continues to the current day. Along with being a composer, she is also a conductor, educator as well an advisor to arts organizations. She has received many awards and recognitions along with honorary doctorates from Colgate University, Oberlin College, Purchase College\/SUNY, as well as from the Curtis Institute of Music. Ms. Leon, originally from Havana Cuba, came to the U.S. and created a name for herself, while following her dreams. But what is most important is that she has never forgotten her roots, which she incorporated in her music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


At the performance of \u201cHonoring Tania Leon\u201d, there were five pieces played which included: Esencia (2009), A La Par (1986), Singsong (2023\/25), In the Field (2022) and Tumbao (2005). All the pieces were unique, and the performers were highly skilled. The musicians were all professionally dressed and proficient in what they were performing. The performers did not speak to the audience directly, but their performance spoke to many. Esencia was performed by the Bergamot Quartet. There were four performers, a traditional string quartet consisting of two violins, a viola and a cello, who were all synchronized and proficient. Next, A La Par was presented by Orion Weiss who played the piano and Ian Rosenbaum percussion. This piece caught my attention. I didn\u2019t particularly like the piece because I didn\u2019t find the music to be in sync. The piano and percussion felt as if two different unrelated musics were being played at the same time, but I was amazed by the percussion. I never knew about percussion but once the piece started my eyes were glued to the percussionist. I was stunned how it had so many different parts and different sounds and how Ian would go left, right back front and use all parts of the different drums. There was just so much going on, and Ian played it flawlessly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Singsong was played by Claire Chase, flute. This was my least favorite piece the evening. I do respect the effort and talent that Claire Chase showed, but there was just something about this piece that was just not appealing to me. I personally felt it lacked structure, melody and felt chaotic. She had so many facial expressions while playing her piece that truthfully, I couldn\u2019t focus on the piece itself, but I had to laugh because of the expressions she was making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


In the Field was played by the string quartet, along with Kyle Dickson, conductor and two sopranos- Rachel Doehring Jackson and Sophie Thompson who sang poems by Carlos Pintado. This was a great performance. The Bergamot Quartet once again was part of this piece and played beautifully. Jackson and Thompson were both very skillful and confident and sang their parts immaculately.
Lastly, Tumbao was the final piece of the night. Camila Cortina Bello played this piece on piano. Tumbao had rhythm as well as some energy to it that made it interesting and enjoyable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


There were some rhythmic pulses that seemed a bit like music I listen to on a regular basis. Tumbao was the first piece where Tania Leon incorporated her Afro-Cuban culture. She attributes this piece to her father’s way of walking – he was “very happy from the heart”. Tania’s last conversation with her dad included him asking her, \u201cwhere are you in your music?” which Tania never understood what he meant\u201d After producing Tumbao Tania states \u201cThat was my first gesture where I included myself\u201d. Tania’s first gesture of her including herself in her music using traces of her ” primary culture” in the music she was composing. Along with that Tania says \u201cis a release of her most vital roots. It was inspired by “The Queens of Salsa”, Cuban singer Cella Cruz, who popularized salsa music all over the world with a stunning sixty – year career of her own\u201d .<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Although I don’t really relate or connect to most of Leon’s music I found Tumbao to be somewhat relevant. Because it incorporates heritage, modern sounds and other techniques, it reminds me of the multicultural music I often listen to. I listen to a mix of American, Bollywood, Hispanic, and Afrobeats music, and sometimes this music has a remix of two cultures. What is also surprising is that Tania didn’t just try to blend in and forget her heritage, she made sure to include her heritage as her foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Overall, the most enjoyable part of the event was listening to Tania herself talk on stage. She was such a genuine, funny down-to-earth person. You can see the passion she has for what she does and the care and love she has for other composers as well as others around her. When it comes to her music, I personally didn\u2019t enjoy most of the music, but I did appreciate the artists, the talents and the unique instruments that were used. I don\u2019t think I would want to go again. It didn\u2019t meet my expectations, which is partly my fault because when I think about classical music, I was expecting to hear something like Beethoven. I found the music to be very confusing, having so many different frequencies and tempo that it didn\u2019t seem to be harmonious and melodic in my opinion. It\u2019s not the type of music I have listened to in the past and it\u2019s not a genre I personally am interested in. However, I would still recommend others to attend the event. Just because some moments didn\u2019t resonate with me doesn\u2019t mean it would be the same for others. There were so many folks, particularly older folks, that seemed to have loved the performance but in the end, I truly appreciated the experience I had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cComposer & Conductor Tania Le\u00f3n: Official Website.\u201d Composer & Conductor Tania
Le\u00f3n | Official Website, www.tanialeon.com\/. Accessed 4 Oct. 2025.
\u201cThe Unplanned, Unstoppable Career of Composer Tania Le\u00f3n.\u201d NPR, 2 Dec. 2022, www.npr.org\/2022\/12\/02\/1139948319\/the-unplanned-unstoppable-career-of-composer-tania-leon. Accessed 4 Oct. 2025.
\u201cTania Le\u00f3n: Diversity in Composing and Life.\u201d American Federation of Musicians, 1 Feb. 2018, www.afm.org\/2018\/02\/tania-leon-diversity-composing-life\/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2025.
Wikipedia Contributors. \u201cTania Le\u00f3n.\u201d Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14
Apr. 2021, en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tania_Le%C3%B3n. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
\u201cTania Le\u00f3n – Steinway & Sons.\u201d Steinway.com, 2017, www.steinway.com\/artists\/tania-leon. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
Program notes: Honoring Tania Le\u00f3n (Thursday, September 25,2025) Miller Theatre at
Columbia University. Available at: https:\/\/www.millertheatre.com\/program-notes\/tania-leon (Accessed: 29 November 2025).
Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts. (2025). 2025 William Schuman Award: Honoring Tania Leon [Program]. New York, NY <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mohammad Aurangzeb I attended my first contemporary classical concert on Thursday, September 25th, 2025, at the Miller Theatre, located at Columbia University. I went to hear \u201cHonoring Tania Leon\u201d. I had never heard of Tania Leon until I was assigned by my music professor to attend the concert. Entering the Miller Theatre, I was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1142,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-fall-2025","7":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/concerts-you-missed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/concerts-you-missed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/concerts-you-missed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/concerts-you-missed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/concerts-you-missed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/concerts-you-missed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":362,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/concerts-you-missed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341\/revisions\/362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/concerts-you-missed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/concerts-you-missed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/concerts-you-missed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}