Born in London of Anglo-Indian descent, Leo Geyer is a young composer, conductor, and presenter. He enjoys a busy and diverse career composing and conducting opera, dance, film and concert music. Following his traineeship at the BBC, Leo has recently entered the broadcasting world as a music presenter for radio and television. 

 

When he was 19, Leo founded Constella Music - the creative powerhouse that publishes and performs Geyer's work. The company brings together internationally renowned artists in critically acclaimed performances across the UK. Most recently Constella performed some of Leo's restorations of music written in Auschwitz, resulting in worldwide news coverage.  Constella’s output also includes Connecting Stars, which provides live, virtual and participatory performances for care home residents nationwide. At the last count, Constella had performed for 22,000 of the most vulnerable people throughout the UK across 2,000 intimate bespoke performances.

 

Leo has received various accolades for composition, the most recent of which is the Lord Mayor’s Composition Prize. His music has been described by The Times as “imaginative and beautifully shaped” and has received performances by ensembles including the English Chamber Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Rambert Dance Company, and Opera North. Leo is currently working on his first major film commission, creating a soundtrack for the Ukrainian silent film Man with a Movie Camera. He has also established a reputation for his reimaginings, which creatively engage with music of the past. This ranges from reduced orchestrations of opera to large scale re-compositions including adding a symphony chorus to Elgar’s Enigma Variations to provide a possible solution to the “enigma puzzle”. Leo is currently studying for a doctorate in opera-ballet composition as the Senior Music Scholar at St Catherine’s College, Oxford.

 

Leo began his conducting career at the Royal Opera House as a Cover Conductor for The Royal Ballet. Described by James Murphy, CEO of the Royal Philharmonic Society as “one of the great young British conductors to watch”, Leo has worked as a guest conductor with the BBC Concert Orchestra, English National Opera, Birmingham Contemporary Music Ensemble, the National Theatre, Ensemble 212 (USA), AUT (Denmark) and other ensembles.

  

Last year, Leo began his training as a presenter on the BBC Open Music Programme with Katie Derham as his mentor. He made his debut at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra, for a BBC Proms performance broadcast live on Radio 3. Since then, Leo has appeared on BBC Radio and Sky Arts, and is currently working on new projects with the BBC. 

 

Leo studied at Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music on the Joint Course, graduating with two first class degrees and The Soroptimist 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. The RNCM recently honoured Leo with Associate Membership of the RNCM in recognition of the exceptional contribution to the profession and the College.