Dr. Leah Reid is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music. Her primary research interests involve the perception, modeling, and compositional applications of timbre. In her works, timbre acts as a catalyst for exploring new soundscapes, time, space, perception, and color.
In recent reviews, Reid’s works have been described as “immersive,” “haunting,” and “shimmering.” She has won numerous awards, including the International Alliance for Women in Music's Pauline Oliveros Prize for her piece Pressure, a Second Prize the 13th International Destellos Competition for Reverie, the Film Score Award for Ring, Resonate, Resound in Frame Dance Productions’ Music Composition Competition, and residencies at the MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her works are frequently performed throughout Europe and North America, with notable premieres by Accordant Commons, Ensemble Móbile, Guerilla Opera, the Jack Quartet, McGill’s Contemporary Music Ensemble, Neave Trio, Sound Gear, Talea, and Yarn/Wire. Her compositions have been presented at festivals, conferences, and in major venues throughout the world, including Aveiro_Síntese (Portugal), BEAST FEaST (England), EviMus (Germany), Forgotten Spaces: EuroMicrofest (Germany), the International Computer Music Conference (USA), IRCAM’s ManiFeste (France), LA Philharmonic's Noon to Midnight (USA), the San Francisco Tape Music Festival (USA), Série de Música de Câmara (Brazil), the Sound and Music Computing Conference (Germany), the Tilde New Music Festival (Australia), the Toronto International Electroacoustic Symposium (Canada), and the Workshop on Computer Music and Audio Technology (Taiwan), among many others.
Reid received her D.M.A. and M.A. in music composition from Stanford University and her B.Mus from McGill University. Reid’s principal teachers include Mark Applebaum, Jonathan Berger, Brian Ferneyhough, and Sean Ferguson. She has taught at Stanford University (Stanford, CA), University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA), and at Cogswell Polytechnical College (San Jose, CA). She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA), where she teaches courses in music composition and technology. Additional information may be found at www.leahreidmusic.com.