Tania León: Horizons, Raíces (Origins), Stride, Pasajes (Live) London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner, Karina Canellakis & Dmitri Slobodeniouk

• Tania León (b. 1943):
• 1 León: Horizons 11:05
• 2 León: Raices (Origins) 17:23
• 3 León: Stride 14:17
• 4 León: Pasajes 13:01
• Total Runtime 55:46

Info for Tania León: Horizons, Raíces (Origins), Stride, Pasajes (Live)

The fifth consecutive fortnightly release from the LPO label, currently celebrating their 20th anniversary year.

Cuban-born American composer Tania León was Composer-in- Residence with the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 2023-25. During this period, she not only brought a bold new voice to the concert stage with a number of world premieres, but also mentored the LPO’s Young Composers, championing living composers and diversity in contemporary music.

Horizons (1999): Premiered in the UK by the LPO under Karina Canellakis at the Royal Festival Hall in October 2023, this evocative orchestral work reflects León’s fluid musical form - an ever-shifting stream punctuated by vivid foreground events and rich textures.

“Structured as much by textures as by themes, it said much in ten minutes. The composer was present and clearly appreciated the dedicated playing of the LPO under Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis.” - Bachtrack (★★★★)

Raíces (Origins) (2024): Commissioned by the LPO and Concertgebouw Brugge and premiered by the LPO under Edward Gardner in March 2024, Raíces explores León’s multicultural heritage through a vibrant, three-part structure that fuses contemplative textures, lively Latin rhythms and jazz-inflected exuberance. Gardner called it “a beautiful pointillist tone poem about the roots of language and culture.”

“León’s work felt both personal and universal, resonating on multiple levels as it brought to life themes of memory, history, and cultural belonging.” - Stage & Cinema

Stride (2020): A Pulitzer Prize-winning work premiered by the New York Philharmonic and given its UK premiere by the LPO in 2023 under the baton of Dima Slobodeniouk, Stride draws inspiration from women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony’s determined spirit. Its powerful rhythmic language blends Black music traditions from the US and Caribbean with the modality of the orchestra.

Pasajes (2022): A European premiere by the LPO under Edward Gardner in February 2025, this vivid four-part work evokes the sounds, sights, and joyful spirit of León’s childhood in Cuba. Rich in colour, rhythm and narrative, Pasajes is a sonic gallery of cultural memory, celebration and radio playing in the street.

“Gardner and the LPO gave a precise and energetic performance, with convincing confidence in its challenging rhythms.” - Bachtrack (★★★★)

London Philharmonic Orchestra
Edward Gardner, conductor
Karina Canellakis, conductor
Dmitri Slobodeniouk, conductor

London Philharmonic Orchestra
One of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1932 by Sir Thomas Beecham. Since then, its Principal Conductors have included Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. In 2007 Vladimir Jurowski became the Orchestra’s current Principal Conductor.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been performing at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall since it opened in 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra in 1992. It also has residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. The Orchestra frequently tours abroad: highlights of the 2018/19 season include a major tour of Asia including South Korea, Taiwan and China, as well as performances in Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Switzerland and the USA.

The Orchestra broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and has recorded soundtracks for numerous films including The Lord of the Rings. In 2005 it began releasing live, studio and archive recordings on its own CD label.

Tania León
arrived in the US from Cuba in 1967, speaking barely any English, as an accomplished pianist who had won three major competitions and earned degrees from the Carlos Alfredo Peyrellade Conservatory. She began studies at the New York College of Music just months later. Her big break came in 1968 when a pianist friend was unwell and she agreed to fill in for her at a ballet class in Harlem. There she impressed ballet dancer and choreographer Arthur Mitchell – the first soloist of colour with the New York City Ballet – and soon became resident composer and music director of Mitchell’s newly formed Dance Theatre of Harlem.

León instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series in 1978. From 1993–97 she was New Music Advisor to Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic. Between 1994 and 2001 she was Latin American music advisor for the American Composers Orchestra. In 2010 she became the founder and artistic director of Composers Now, an organisation with the mission of empowering living composers and celebrating their diverse voices.

Recent commissions include Anima for Jennifer Koh’s Alone Together; Rítmicas for The Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition’s Grossman Ensemble; Ser for the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Pa’lante for the International Contemporary Ensemble and YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles); and Ethos for pianist Ursula Oppens and the Cassatt String Quartet.

León’s opera Scourge of Hyacinths, based on a play by Wole Soyinka with staging and design by Robert Wilson, has received over 20 performances throughout Europe and Mexico. Commissioned by Hans Werner Henze and the city of Munich for the Fourth Munich Biennale, it took home the coveted BMW Prize, and the aria ‘Oh Yemanja’ was recorded by Dawn Upshaw on her Nonesuch CD, The World So Wide.

Past commissions include works for The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Arts, NDR Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, New World Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, Fest der Kontinente (Hamburg, Germany), The Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Fromm Music Foundation, Los Angeles Master Chorale, DanceBrazil, and Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Booklet for Tania León: Horizons, Raíces (Origins), Stride, Pasajes (Live)