Leila recently appeared on The London Sinfonietta Podcast to discuss her recent collaboration with the ensemble and explains the background of the songs that make up “Freedom Suite” that was presented as part of Yet Unheard, a concert program that focused on black composers and was co-curated by George Lewis and Elaine Mitchener.
In addition to appearing on the podcast, Leila also collaborated with The London Sinfonietta to create an educational Composition Challenge designed as a tool for educators. The text setting of her composition “Ghost Lullaby” — reflecting Native American peoples and lands — is used as an example:
On a similar note, Leila also wrote an article “Critical Sonic Practice: Decolonizing Boundaries in Music Research” on themes of decolonization in the Journal of Journal of Continental Thought & Theory: A Journal of Intellectual Freedom in a special issue of Thinking Music: Praxis and Aesthetics.
Leila recently collaborated with cutting-edge and Grammy Award winning, The Crossing Choir as part of their Carols After A Plague project, with their expansive interpretation of carols. Take a sneak peak of “Colouring-In Book” (see full program note and lyrics at YouTube) before the upcoming album release!