Violinist Leslee Smucker (US/NL) incorporates voice, synthesizers, electronics, film, and poetry into her artistic works. Her expressive modes range from electroacoustic and live acoustic pieces, to compositions for herself and others, and concerts featuring various musical, filmic, poetic, and artistic elements.
Smucker is an accomplished composer and performer, having received commissions from renowned organizations such as Gaudeamus Muziekweek and Rewire Festival. Her compositions have been performed at prestigious festivals like the Grachtenfestival, Niewe Noten, Gaudeamus Muziekweek. Her electroacoustic works have been performed at Autumn Festival in Brussels, Institute of Sonology, and Wavefield Synthesis Festival in Den Haag. One notable achievement was a commission by Rewire Festival to create a sensory sensitive composition called Worlds Within which premiered at Rewire Festival 2023 and opened for Midori Takada for Rewire x Korzo.
Smucker has also performed solo projects at notable venues like Association Philomuses in Paris, Center for New Music in San Francisco, and Studio LOOS. She has performed solo works in Andriessen Festival in Arnhem, Interference Series in Flagstaff, Scottish Library's Cantos Project, and the Contemporary Heritage Symposium. She was a Guest Composer at EMS Stockholm in 2023 where she worked with their Serge and multi-channel systems. Currently, Smucker is engaged in an artistic research project titled "buzzing strings/resonant beauty" at Studio LOOS.
This ongoing endeavor challenges conventional notions of beauty by creating prepared violins and composing works specifically for prepared instruments.