Black and white headshot of Leslee Wood leaning against a stone wall, looking thoughtfully toward the side.

Artist's Statement

"There’s an idea that runs constantly through my work: don’t use more than you need. Use just enough (notes, time, color, timbre) to make the point. That idea focuses my mind and my creative energy. I’m fueled by restraint, by the delicate balance of harmonic tension and release, the interplay of rhythm slipping between steady and off-kilter. My music has economy of scale, it is precise, it is sculpted with care, but it is also passionate, full of wonder and rage and pain and delight. It comes from deep inside.
I think the great power of music is that it’s at once both primal and transcendent. It connects with our deepest and most instinctive needs, but it can transcend even the most sophisticated language. It’s the sensual bridge between mind and body. Music can express the unspeakable and make sense of the senseless.
With music, when I create, I become just enough."

Chants for the Apocalypse

(2021) plainchant

cantor and choir; based on biblical texts

premiere upcoming (29 October 2021) by KC VITAs at St. Mary's Episcopal Church; Kansas City, MO

Casting Lots

(2021) song

vocal quintet; text by Kyle Hunter

premiere upcoming (29 October 2021) by KC VITAs at St. Mary's Episcopal Church; Kansas City, MO

"Voice of the Canyon" from Daughter of Zion

(2021) ballet

voice and piano; collaboration with Municipal Ballet Company

premiere 29 September 2021 in Salt Lake City, Utah by Leslee Wood, Natalie Hamilton, and Municipal Ballet Company directed by Sarah Longoria. Choreography by Olivia Mason.

Above: excerpt from "Voice of the Canyon", performed by Municipal Ballet Company, directed by Sarah Longoria. Choreography by Olivia Mason. Composed and sung by Leslee Wood with Natalie Hamilton (piano).


On the Back of the Black

(2020) oratorio

mezzo-soprano & tenor solo, mixed choir, Pierrot ensemble with percussion; collaboration with KC VITAs

premiere 6 August 2021 by KC VITAs at St. John's United Methodist Church; Kansas City, MO


Excerpt: On the Back of the Black mvts 1-3.

Excerpt: On the Back of the Black mvts 4-6.

Excerpt: On the Back of the Black mvts 7-10.



Isolation Meditation

(2020) song

SATB Choir, masked and socially distant; commissioned by The Pembroke School, Kansas City, MO

premiere May 2021 at Pembroke Hill School; Kansas City, MO


Dumbfounded

(2019) song

SATB choir & harp; text by Ruth Williams

premiere 7 April 2019 by KC VITAs at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art; Kansas City, MO



We Must Like It

(2018) song

SSAA quartet; text by Tierza Askren

premiered 29 March 2019 by Ignea Strata at St. John's UMC; Kansas City, MO



The Safest Space

(2018) chamber piece

vibraphone quartet with multimedia (2018)

premiered 12 March 2018 by University of Kansas Percussion Ensemble, Swarthout Recital Hall; Lawrence, KS


Blind

(2018)

SSAATTBB choir; text by Megan Bryde

premiered 8 April 2018 by KC VITAs at St. Mary's Episcopal Church; Kansas City, MO


Choral Evensong

(2018) liturgical evensong

SSAATTBB choir with antiphonal SATB soloists

premiered 8 April 2018 by KC VITAs at St. Mary's Episcopal Church; Kansas City, MO


Song of Anna

(2017) canticle

SSAATB choir

premiered 7 December 2017 by KC VITAs at The Simpson House; Kansas City, MO


Tiga Puisi Chairil Anwar

(2017) song cycle

mezzo-soprano, tenor, & harp; text by Chairil Anwar

mezzo-soprano, tenor, & piano; (2018 revision)

premiered 15 October 2017 by Midwest Chamber Ensemble, Lutheran Church of the Resurrection; Prairie Village, KS



Sonnets from the Portuguese

(2017) song cycle

SSAA quartet; text by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

premiered 19 May 2017 by Ignea Strata at KC United Church of Christ; Kansas City, MO



Suite for Chignik Bay

(2016) woodwind miniatures

flute & clarinet in b-flat

premiered 14 May, 2017 by Violetta Duo at St. Mary's Episcopal Church; Kansas City, MO



Song: Go and Catch a Falling Star

(2017)

TTBB choir; text by John Donne

SATB choir with tuned waterglasses (2018 revision)

premiered 1 April 2017 by University of Kansas Men's Glee Club at Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts; Kansas City, MO


Morning Psalm

(2016)

SSA trio; anonymous 8th c. text

premiered 24 July 2016 by KC VITAs at St. Mary's Episcopal Church; Kansas City, MO



Summer Sang in Me

(2016)

SATB Choir; text by Edna St. Vincent Millay

premiered 5 August 2016 by KC VITAs at Old Mission UMC; Prairie Village, KS



Straight on Through

(2016)

SATB choir; text by Willa Cather

premiered 11 October 2018 at KC School of Music; Lawrence, KS


Three Meditations for Maundy Thursday

(2016)

handbell choir

premiered 1 May by Bellissimo! at St. Paul's UMC; Lenexa, KS



Expectation

(2016)

handbell choir

premiered 1 May by Bellissimo! at St. Paul's UMC; Lenexa, KS



Dicite pusillanimes

(2015)

SATB choir

premiered November 2015 by Schola Cantorum of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception; Kansas City, MO



The Whole Bright World Rejoices

(2015)

SSA trio

premiered 10 December 2017 by Ignea Strata at the Catholic Church of the Nativity; Leawood, KS

Peace

(2015) cantata

SATB choir with soloists

premiered 18 November 2019 by the American Guild of Organists Schola Cantorum at the Cathedral of St. Peter; Kansas City, MO


Prayers from the Ark

(2015) choral song cycle

SATB choir; text by Carmen Bernos de Gasztold in English translation by Rumer Godden


Four Poems by Emily Dickinson

(2015) choral song cycle

SATB choir; text by Emily Dickinson

premiered 2 August 2015 by KC VITAs at St. John's UMC; Kansas City, MO



Senex puerum

(2014)

SSA trio

premiered January 2015 by St. George Choristers at St. Mary's Episcopal Church; Kansas City, MO


The Flower among the Weeds

(2014)

SSA trio

premiered April 2014 by St. George Choristers at St. Mary's Episcopal Church; Kansas City, MO


Messier Studies

web-interactive cycle

open-instrumentation


Play Me

song

duet for soprano and bassoon


Pando

instrumental suite

open-instrumentation


Daily Haiku

miniatures

solo piano; after the poetry of Matsuo Basho, Kobayashi Issa, and Yosa Buson


Fish

song cycle

medium voice and piano; text by Kyle Hunter; collaboration with KC VITAs, Kansas City, MO

Mvt. 4 "Unloaded" premiered January 31, 2021 Kansas City via livestream.
Full premiere date pending.


L.V. Wood Works List (pdf) L.V. Wood CV (pdf)