Leah Reid is a composer, sound artist, researcher, and educator, whose works range from opera, chamber, and vocal music to acousmatic, electroacoustic works, and interactive sound installations. Her primary research interests involve the perception, modeling, and compositional applications of timbre. In her works, timbre acts as a catalyst for exploring new soundscapes, time, space, perception, and color.
Reviews have called Reid’s works “immersive,” “haunting,” and “shimmering.” Reid’s accolades include a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship, the American Prize, first prizes in the International “New Vision” Composition Competition, KLANG! International Electroacoustic Composition Competition, and Musicworks’ Electronic Music Competition. She has also been honored with the Sound of the Year’s Composed with Sound Award, IAWM’s Pauline Oliveros Award, and second prizes in the Iannis Xenakis International Electronic Music Competition and the International Destellos Competition.
She has received fellowships from the Guerilla Opera Company, Transient Canvas, Copland House, the Hambidge Center, MacDowell, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), the Ucross Foundation, and Yaddo. Her works are published with Ablaze Records, Cero Records, New Focus Recordings, Parma Recordings, RMN Classical, and BabelScores. Reid earned her D.M.A. and M.A. from Stanford University and her B.Mus. from McGill University. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia.
While at MacDowell in 2017, Reid worked on a composition for four sopranos. The work explores the sounds and rhythms present inside Gertrude Stein’s poem “Apple” from Tender Buttons. In 2023, she worked on a composition for saxophone and electronics as part of her Guggenheim fellowship project and the work was premiered at The Cube at Virginia Tech the same year. In 2025, Reid worked on a new piece for percussion and electronics for percussionist Patti Cudd, exploring the timbral possibilities of noise. The piece will appear on Reid’s forthcoming solo album.
