Leo Geyer
composer | conductor
About
Leo Geyer is a young composer and conductor with a passion for imaginative, daring and dramatic approaches to music-making, encompassing new work, cross-disciplinary collaborations and reimaginings of existing music. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Constella OperaBallet and Music Director for the Devon Philharmonic Orchestra and works as a guest artist internationally. Leo is also the Senior Music Scholar at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford studying for a doctorate in opera-ballet composition under the supervision of Prof. Robert Saxton.
Aged 19, Leo founded an orchestra which has now grown to become Constella OperaBallet – the world’s only company dedicated to the fusion of opera and ballet. Leo has brought together internationally renowned artists in over 75 critically acclaimed performances across the UK, including radio and television broadcasts. Constella’s most recent project at the Chelsea Flower Show engaged over 1 million people and received national coverage. Upcoming projects include a site-specific opera-ballet commissioned for the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site and an opera-ballet bringing to light undiscovered music written in Auschwitz.
Leo has received various accolades for composition, having most recently been awarded the Lord Mayor’s Composition Prize. He has received particular acclaim for his stage works, including his opera The Mermaid of Zennor, described by The Times as “imaginative and beautifully shaped”. Leo has fulfilled major commissions, which include works for the European Capital of Culture, Tate St. Ives, Opera North, Rambert Dance Company and BBC Singers. Leo is also establishing a reputation for his "reimaginings," which creatively engage with music of the past to extend its significance for today's audiences. Most notably this has included the addition of a chorus to Elgar's Enigma Variations to provide a possible solution to the "enigma puzzle".
Leo began his conducting career at the Royal Opera House as a Cover Conductor for The Royal Ballet. Leo now enjoys a busy and diverse portfolio in opera, ballet, theatre and concert music. As well as his current conducting positions, Leo works as a guest conductor collaborating with the English Chamber Orchestra, National Theatre, Ensemble 212 (USA), AUT (Denmark), and the Southbank Sinfonia. He has been described by James Murphy, CEO of the Royal Philharmonic Society as “one of the great young British conductors to watch”.
London-born, Leo studied at Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music on the Joint Course, graduating with two first class degrees and The Soroptimists International of Manchester Award for Composers/Conductors. As part of his studies, Leo also attended the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts to study conducting with Uroš Lajovic.
For shortened biography and photos, please click here.
Press
Constella OperaBallet
For reviews and interviews with Leo, Constella's Founder and Artistic Director, please click here.
"Pure opera - the holy grail"
WhatsOnStage
"Leo sets out to explore new music but make it accessible to a wide audience."
Suzy Klein, BBC Radio 3
"Geyer’s skill at dissolving elevated speech into aria, duet and trio set up the ebb and flow of musical tides."
The Times
Spirit of Cornwall
Awarded Silver-Gilt Medal
For broadcasts and interviews about Leo's music at the Chelsea Flower Show
please click here.
"just divine"
Joanna Lumley, BBC 2
"a unique creative collaboration"
The Telegraph
Sideshows
For reviews and interviews about Leo's award-winning opera-ballet Sideshows, please click here.
"Geyer's 'Sideshows' is anarchic fairground fun, with an intricate score bristling with darting and sinuous lines."
The Opera Magazine
"An utter delight"
British Theatre
"Excellent musical mayhem"
The Daily Express
Interviews include:
- Classic FM
- BBC Radio 3 In Tune
- Classical Music Magazine
Music
Click links below for recordings and further information, including the purchase and hire of music.
Stage
opera-ballet outreach project
Mozart's
reimagined opera
Purcell's
reimagined opera
Struass's
reimagined opera
chamber opera
piano, objects & dance
opera-ballet scene
chamber opera-ballet
incidental music
chamber opera-ballet
cross-art collaboration
dance & reed trio
Large Ensemble
symphony orchestra
Saint-Saën's
reimagined for
symphony orchestra
Elgar's
reimagined for
symphony orchestra & chorus
chamber orchestra
Mozart's
reimagined for
chamber orchestra
(version also for wind orch.)
violin & strings
trumpet & orchestra
wind orchestra
Small Ensemble
small ensemble
small ensemble
guzheng & ensemble
open ensemble
small ensemble
small ensemble
flute choir
Chamber
flute, violin & cello
harp trio
clarinet & string trio
bassoon quartet
clarinet, cello & piano
wind quintet
bassoon & piano
bassoon & harp
(also version for tenor sax)
Schubert's
reimagined wind quintet
Vocal
baritone, ensemble & tape
mezzo-soprano & piano
mezzo-soprano & piano
mezzo-soprano & ensemble
female vocal trio
mezzo-soprano & ensemble
mezzo-soprano & ensemble
8-part choir
Solo
clarinet in Bb
bassoon
piano
violin
piano
cimbalom
violin
oboe
bassoon & electronics
Diary
2019 - 2020 Season
"Leo is fast making a name for himself as one of the great young British conductors to watch".
James Murphy, CEO, Royal Philharmonic Society
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