The stiff spine in “Stride” also reflects the circumstances of its creation. Honoring the centennial of the 19th Amendment that gave women the vote, the New York Philharmonic launched Project 19, consisting of commissions for 19 women composers. In conceiving her piece, Leon researched and considered the life of Susan B. Anthony.
“In my imagination, I saw this woman from a century ago moving forward like nobody’s business, it was such a force,” says Leon in a video about the piece. “Stride means inner courage. There’s this blind faith about doing something when those around you might not believe that you can do it. You move forward no matter what.”
“Stride” debuted at David Geffen Hall in February 2020 and the ASO is the first orchestra to perform it since then. The Philharmonic commission and premiere was in certain ways a bittersweet moment for Leon and her many champions. In 1993, she was named composer-in-residence with the orchestra but the three-year appointment turned out to be far less impactful than promised. Most galling of all, the full orchestra never played her music. That situation got belatedly rectified with “Stride” and the Pulitzer Prize confirmed it as a triumph. Leon subsequently joined the orchestra’s board.
Before going further — full disclosure: I produced Leon’s first full-length CD in 1994. During a recent phone interview, we discussed her ability to make strides and the inner resources that fuel and sustain her.
“Frankly I’m very surprised that I’ve done what I’ve done so far,” says Leon. “I always knew what it felt like to be a musician, someone good with sounds. Teaching, composing or conducting, it’s all the same.”
That dexterity has allowed Leon to tackle different kinds of assignments and positions over the years. After observing her accompanying dance classes, Arthur Mitchell invited Leon to improvise, compose and conduct as the founding music director of Dance Theater of Harlem. Other theatrical endeavors include music director for “The Wiz,” creating music for Robert Wilson’s “The Golden Windows,” and composing the opera “Scourge of Hyacinths,” based on a radio play by the Nigerian writer and Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka.
Leon also developed and curated a series of community concerts focused on black composers for the Brooklyn Philharmonic and taught at Brooklyn College for more than 30 years. She currently lives a mile from the Hudson River in the Rockland County community of Nyack. In January the University of Illinois published “Tania Leon’s Stride: A Polyrhythmic Life,” a biography and analysis of her music by Alejandro L. Madrid.
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