Leo Sussman, flute

Flutist Leo Sussman grew up playing chamber music in living rooms and gigging with a salsa band in San Francisco. Now based in Ithaca, NY, he delights in breathing life into new music and producing imaginative community-based arts projects that foster conversation and connection. Some recent exploits include coding tactile electroacoustic installations in Max/MSP, recording a new work for twelve flutists by Julia Wolfe, and performing Stravinsky’s Firebird at Burning Man.  

Leo has performed with groups including Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble X, and SEM Ensemble. Prior to relocating to the Finger Lakes, he directed a multi-genre concert series at a community garden in the East Village and completed a two-year chamber music fellowship with Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect. During the summer he is a resident artist at the Annapolis and Lawrence chamber music festivals. 

Also an experienced teaching artist, Leo enjoys leading creative music-making residencies and designing interactive performances for venues where music is seldom heard. For several years he taught at DePauw University, where he co-directed the faculty chamber ensemble and Electronic Experimentation Lab. Leo earned bachelor’s degrees in music and physics at Lawrence University, a master’s at Yale, and doctorate at Manhattan School of Music, where his research examined the depiction and performance of monstrosity through music. His principal musical mentors include Linda Chesis, Ransom Wilson, Erin Lesser, and Leslie Chin.