About

Leni Kreienberg is a composer, performer, and improviser based in New York, originally from Albany. Leni’s work uses electronics to create and extend instruments–including the voice–and imagine relationships between objects, people, machines, locations, and the sounds they create. Leni builds instrument systems that connect the voice with analog electronics and live processing in Max MSP and Ableton. Their compositional mediums include text scores, sound collage, songs, improvisation, games, graphic scores, and classically notated scores in the Western tradition. Leni’s practice is driven by deep listening, community building, and a fascination with new sounds. They have performed and/or presented work at Lincoln Center, Roulette, Prelude Festival, SPLICE Festival, and DIY venues around NYC. In 2020, Leni released Mutual Reflections, a sound collage featuring recorded footage from improvised sessions with fellow performers from their diverse ensemble background, including orchestra, jazz combos, vocal ensembles, and noise collectives. 

Leni graduated with a BA from Brown University, where they double-concentrated in biology and music, studying with Debra Mann, Daniela Schäcter, Dave Zinno, Marcel Sagesser, and Kristina Warren. Leni holds an MM from The New School’s Performer-Composer program, where they studied with Joan La Barbara, Levy Lorenzo, Fay Victor, and Wendy Eisenberg. Leni was a 2023-2024 Graduate Fellow at Nstrument Lab, a research initiative dedicated to developing new electronic musical instruments. Leni is a recipient of the House Foundation’s Pablo Vela Memorial Scholarship. They are a co-founder and curator of Phonotonic, a concert series dedicated to building community among experimental and improvising musicians of marginalized genders. Leni is in a band called Gem Alchemy with Paul Sakai (drums) and Nathan Chamberlain (guitar). Leni is currently an organizer at the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada.