Keep Leah's New York Dream alive!

Ko Leah toku ingoa. My name is Leah and I am a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and arts advocate. For the past two years, I have been based in New York City and I need my community's help to remain here and keep my dream alive!

In 2023, I was fortunate enough to receive a Fulbright award to study a Masters of Arts Management and Entrepreneurship at the New School. While studying, I have found life-changing mentorship, community and opportunities to become the artist I always hoped I could be. But the journey is not over yet!

I have been offered the opportunity to study for another two years at the New School, at the Mannes School of Music in the composition department, with my inspiring mentor Mary Kouyoumdjian. Over the next two years, I will be able to hone my composition craft in order to write music for electronics, contemporary classical music and film. 

I face financial challenges to continue my NYC dream! While my fees have been covered by a 100% merit scholarship from the New School, I am unable to cover all of my living expenses. International students are restricted to 20 hours a week of work, so while I have a job (in the production department of the school orchestra) I can only cover my living expenses excluding rent. Any donations from my fundraising campaign will go towards my rent payments to keep me in the city that is transforming my life and creative practice.

My family tree and creative community spans continents. Born in the UK, raised in Aotearoa and now based in New York City, my heart and creative work lives across the world. 

I have been incredibly fortunate to study in the city of my dreams, NYC, for the past two years. My training provided me with the opportunity to develop skills I had largely "self-taught" in Pōneke where I established a music series called Pōneke Sessions and a chamber orchestra called Gallery Orchestra. Gallery Orchestra recorded its debut album with singer-songwriter Arjuna Oakes in 2023 following a successful BOOSTED campaign. The album will be released in the next year with a international release that will span NYC, Arjuna's new home in London and Aotearoa. 

The community and mentorship I have found at the New School has changed my trajectory as an artist and human being. I arrived in New York determined to develop my skills to produce other people's new work, and while that remains an important part of my practice, I have also found my own voice and stepped into a path where I can make my own original work. 

The funding will be going towards

- A flight back to the United States

- Rent for the next year of study

The New School has generously provided me with a 100% merit scholarship which means that thankfully my school fees are taken care of. I have a 20 hour a week position in the production department of the Mannes School of Music which covers my living expenses but NOT my rent. Unfortunately, in the United States there are strict restrictions around work for international students so I cannot work more than these allotted hours, leaving me short on the rent money.

I will be undertaking a two-year Professional Studies Diploma in Composition at the Mannes School of Music in New York City. My professor is Mary Kouyoumdjian, an established composer, documentarian and Pulitzer-finalist. While studying at the New School, I will be writing my first album of contemporary classical music, my first chamber opera, learning to work with live electronics and film scoring. I will also be continuing my practice as a performer and improviser, while trying to find a publisher for my book Meditations for Musicians, which I self-published earlier this year as part of my Masters degree.

My music uses the sounds of the natural world, improvisation, contemporary classical music and the philosophy of "all sounds as music". Each work I produce is a "meditation" on a value, an idea or a person I love. My first ambient track papillon can be found on all streaming platforms now.

My composition diploma will provide me with the opportunity to continue developing my creative community in New York City and elevate my skills as a composer. My connection with this city and the scene that thrives here will only strengthen and develop, to the benefit of my future projects and work in Aotearoa. 

Studying in New York City has changed my life and creative practice. While at the New School I have been fortunate enough to receive transformative mentorship from female artists like Joan La Barbara, Jane Ira Bloom, Rebekah Heller and Mary Kouyoumdjian. These women have taught me that my creative potential is unlimited.  A lesson I captured and explored in my first self-published book Meditations for Musicians. 

I moved to New York as a self-taught producer and classical clarinetist. After less than two years, I am now an improviser, a composer and an author. This city has opened up so many pathways and opportunities that transformed my sense of self, and therefore my practice. 

The longer I remain in New York, the stronger my craft and connection to community here will become. This will benefit the creative industries in Aotearoa as my relationships and global creative network that I have found here, will travel home with me when I return. I am finding future collaborators, producers, investors, and artists who are interested and inspired by our community in Aotearoa. But I have only just scratched the surface!

We need artists in the global heart of the arts (NYC!) to represent our local industries and connect places, individuals and opportunities here to home.