Cheryl E. Leonard

A big thank you to Tobias Fischer for the opportunity to respond to such thoughtful questions on listening, sound, and music! 15questions.net/interview/ch...

Agreed!

Thanks Ernst!

near the bear, by cheryl e. leonard 5 track album

f-o-m.bandcamp.com/album/near-t...

"near the bear," is out today! From walrus encounters at 79° N to watching the ocean freeze at -35° C, the album celebrates the High Arctic. Sounds played on natural and human-made objects intertwine with field recordings and site-specific improvisations in five works about Svalbard & Greenland.

Releases September 26th in CD and digital formats.
Part of forms of minutiae's ice sounds series in celebration of the international year of glaciers’ preservation (unesco & wmo, 2025)

My new Arctic album is now available for preorder:
f-o-m.bandcamp.com/album/near-t...! Five compositions inspired by the unique wildlife, environments, and human histories of Svalbard and Greenland. Available from forms of minutiae as a limited-edition CD+booklet or digital download+PDF booklet.

Things I played at the UB radio salon on Sunday

Wish I could be there

Listening with the Wild: Eco-Composer Cheryl Leonard Join us for a sonic journey with composer Cheryl E. Leonard, who crafts immersive soundscapes using field recordings and musical instruments made from shells, bones, rocks,...

Come on over to the Sunnyvale Public Library this Saturday afternoon for sounds, stories, and instruments from my eco-musical adventures. It’s free! sunnyvale.libcal.com/event/147215...

Setup for my performances this Sunday at Headlands Center for the Arts as part of their Summer Open House. I’ll be in the Gym doing a sound installation and two live sets!

Instruments for my set earlier today at the San Francisco Main Library. Thanks to all who came out to listen!

My table at the end of last night’s Sonic Cartography improv gig in Berkeley. Good fun!

Pleased to announce that Euphotic’s latest album (which I played on and mixed) is out today on Confront Recordings: confrontrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/clastic

Recording locations from last weekend’s Nature Sounds Society Workshop: Sierra Valley, Carmen Valley, and Yuba Pass. Early, chilly, good times!

Rob Macfarlane : ‘Sometimes I felt as if the river was writing me’ The writer and poet on reimagining rivers as living beings, the ecological crisis near and far and why copyright laws should protect nature

I spoke with the brilliant @jonathan-watts.bsky.social about the experience of writing "with" rivers; about freshwater and life and power—and about hope as a discipline.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Point Reyes, After the Cattle - Bay Nature When ranchers leave the land, what version of nature takes over? The park and The Nature Conservancy have ambitious restoration plans.

baynature.org/2025/05/15/p...

Yes, there do seem to be several caves around there, and it was Takaka (oops!).

And full of phytokarst - where plants and calcium work together to form stalactites and stalagmites that bend towards the light!

Recording at Rawhiti Cave (near Takata, New Zealand) two days ago: drippy!

NEA Grants Canceled to Bay Area Arts Nonprofits | KQED The National Endowment for the Humanities suddenly canceled grants to nonprofits on Friday afternoon.

BREAKING: Several Bay Area arts nonprofits received emails Friday afternoon that their grants from the National Endowment for the Arts have been canceled — including SCRAP, the San Francisco creative reuse center; the Oakland Theater Project; and The Lab.

Excited that music, natural-object instruments, and the graphic score from my composition "Littoral" are included in Marin MOCA's latest exhibition, "Future Flows." www.marinmoca.org/see-and-expe...

Last night’s musical instruments for a Thomas Carnacki set at the Peacock Lounge

in the latter days
of a corrupt world
cherry blossoms

Issa

To the world:
We are fighting back. Our movement has been silenced by the media here—but we are not backing down. This is what our streets looked like across multiple cities. Tomorrow, there will be more of us! Raise a glass to freedom.

—With love,
Your American allies.

‘They have no one to follow’: how migrating birds use quantum mechanics to navigate Evidence is mounting to explain how birds use the Earth’s magnetic field to help fly thousands of miles with unerring accuracy – a discovery that may help advance quantum technology

“It seems that nature has devised quantum technology before us…”

We’ve been puzzling at the mysteries of avian migration for millennia—the answers now emerging about how migrating birds navigate thousands of miles with pinpoint accuracy are…mind-blowing. www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Rehearsing for my concert tomorrow night at Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center. I’m performing a set of pieces about clinate change in the polar regions and California. events.stanford.edu/events/forms...

Tidal flow, Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore

Weaned elephant seal pups this morning out at Point Reyes National Seashore

‘Scientists will not be silenced’: thousands protest Trump research cuts Researchers at Stand Up for Science rallies voice defiance against the policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

The mood was defiant at many of the rallies, where chants of “Scientists will not be silenced”, “Facts over fear” and “What do we want? Peer review! When do we want it? Now!” were heard.


https://go.nature.com/3F8T6FX