cameron leach

American percussionist Cameron Leach is a bold performer recognized for his expressive virtuosity, musical athleticism, and daring interpretations. As a soloist and chamber musician, Leach has concertized in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. He has appeared at some of the world’s finest institutions, including the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Royal Northern College of Music, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Sibelius Academy, and the Norwegian Academy of Music, and notable halls such as the Lila Cockrell Theater, Ohio Theatre, Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, and China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts. Leach is the winner of both the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) International Solo Artist Competition and Yamaha Young Performing Artist Competition, and was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. He is a member of the Northern California-based percussion quartet Orphic Percussion, and one half of the Leach | Peters Percussion Duo. Along with his active touring schedule, Leach regularly performs with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. An in-demand educator, Leach recently held a professorship at Kent State University’s Hugh A. Glauser School of Music, and now teaches exclusively as a guest artist at universities across the United States. Leach proudly endorses Black Swamp Percussion, Beetle Percussion, Sabian Cymbals, and Malletech. Leach’s 2019-2020 season features concerto debuts with the Grammy-nominated Dallas Winds, the Longmont Symphony Orchestra, and the Euclid Symphony Orchestra, as well as the premiere of Durwynne Hsieh’s new concerto for solo percussion and chamber winds at Otterbein University. Leach will unveil two new solo programs throughout the season: ELISION, his entirely electroacoustic show, and Seven Short Stories, his percussion theatre project. He will serve as artist-in-residence at Denison University’s TUTTI Festival, and perform as a guest artist at the Rochester Fringe Festival and SPLICE Festival. Leach will appear on both the New Music at Short North Stage Series and Ohio University’s CLICK Series, and will be a featured clinician at the Ohio PAS Day of Percussion, Indiana PAS Marching Percussion Clinic, and North American Brass Band Association Championships. Other engagements include residencies at the University of North Alabama, Baylor University, Tarleton State University, and Miami University.

Leach’s quartet, Orphic Percussion, will make recital debuts in Nuremberg and San Francisco, followed by ensemble residencies at Las Positas College, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, California State University San Bernardino, and Trinity Valley Community College. Additionally, the Leach | Peters Duo will be featured on WXXI-FM’s “Live from Hochstein” radio broadcast during a recital/clinic tour of Upstate New York, culminating in residencies at the Eastman Community Music School and the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. Looking ahead to 2020-2021, Leach will premiere a new percussion concerto with the New Albany Symphony Orchestra by Guggenheim Fellow and Fromm Commission recipient Adam Roberts.

Highlights from 2018-2019 include the premiere of Dave Maric’s percussion concerto SPIEL, guest artist engagements at 20 universities across the United States, and recital appearances in Beijing, Portland, Orlando, Houston, Fresno, Rochester, and South Bend, to name a few. Leach served on faculty at the MalletLab Summer Intensive, and as artist-in-residence at both the Space City New Music Festival and Purdue University Fort Wayne. He appeared on the Eastman Summer Concert Series with the Leach | Peters Duo, and toured throughout the Midwest and Pacific Northwest with Orphic Percussion. In recent seasons, Leach performed concerti with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, McConnell Arts Center Chamber Orchestra, and Capital University Symphonic Winds, along with several performances at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention and a European tour with the World Percussion Group.

Devoted to the creation and performance of new music, Leach continues to commission diverse works for solo percussion, with a special focus on electroacoustic and theatrical music. Leach’s 2018-2019 season saw the premiere of eleven new works, with the current season including an additional nine. His latest commissions include pieces by Emmanuel Séjourné, David Skidmore, Linda Kernohan, Paul Pinto, Vera Stanojevic, Matt Curlee, Alicia Jane Turner, and Alexis C. Lamb. Leach has premiered over 30 new works by composers such as Michael Burritt, Paul Lansky, Alejandro Viñao, Jon Lin Chua, Stefan Cwik, and many more. 

In addition to his work as a concert artist, Leach has a strong background in marching percussion, having won world titles with the Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps and Rhythm X. He also hosts The Cameron Leach Podcast, a new audio/video experience featuring both guest interviews and solo episodes, offering insight into the life of a touring soloist.