Playing live on the air tonight 9-10pm Pacific at KZSU with Euphotic (Bryan Day, Tom Djll, and I) kzsu.stanford.edu
KZSU Stanford 90.1 FM
kzsu.stanford.edu
Cheryl E. Leonard
@cheryleleonard.bsky.social
composer, performer, instrument-builder, field recordist
UB Radio Salon 961 live experimental sounds w/ special guests: @cheryleleonard.bsky.social Cheryl Leonard & Cliff Neighbors on DFM Radio TV International (DFM.NU) Sunday JUNE 14th, 2026 • 5-7pm US PST LISTEN via DFM RTV INT stream stereo.dfm.nu more streams IRC chat + Discord www.dfm.nu
Nominations are open for this year’s Tiny Awards. “The Tiny Awards exist because we thought it was important to shine a spotlight on the sorts of personal web projects that tend to get overlooked.” [tinyawards.net]
Tiny Awards
This is the home of the Tiny Awards, which, since 2023, has celebrated the best of the small, poetic, creative, handmade web.
tinyawards.net
Last minute trip to the middle of nowhere in San Benito County (vaguely near New Idria) for some field recording and photography!
Join us for "Newt Pool" this Sunday in the West Oakland Sound Series. Wobby and I present music that celebrates the astonishing aquatic voices of plants, invertebrates, and newts from Marin Headlands! Also on the bill is the Departure Duo: Nina Guo and Edward Kass. www.sfsound.info#april-12-2026
Some of the instruments I’ll be playing tonight as part of Thomas Carnacki in our set at the MilkBar milkbar.org
very grateful to The Quietus for publishing this essay- on everyday fascism and the promise and problem of “beauty” as an inadequate but therapeutic response to the ugliness of the present - plus there are some thoughts on disco and Patricia Highsmith- this felt like a risk but I’m glad it’s out
John Doran@jahduran.bsky.social · 7mo ago
So moved by the people of Minnesota who—drawing on LA, Portland, Chicago, DC etc—are writing a shining new chapter in the history of nonviolent resistance. The rest of us need to be taking notes—and helping them! www.standwithminnesota.com
Stand With Minnesota
A directory of places to give to as Minnesota defends itself from ICE occupation
standwithminnesota.com
My country is in hell. #uspol www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
‘Make no mistake, this is an occupation’: ICE’s deadly presence casts long shadow over Minneapolis
Classrooms have emptied, shops have shut, and the mood is tense – but as the federal operation has ramped up, so has residents’ response
theguardian.com
New interview with Cheryl E. Leonard on "near the bear" and building compositions from the High Arctic. We talked about walrus sounds channeled through dried kelp, listening at 79° North, and honoring the most rapidly-warming region on Earth. She's one of the best in the biz.
Cheryl E. Leonard and the Fragile, Wild Arctic
Cheryl E. Leonard builds sonic worlds from the far edges of our planet. For decades, her work has translated the Arctic and Antarctic into intricately layered compositions where technical mastery s…
foxydigitalis.zone
I'm starting a new project today called Morning Sounds - a free digital series collecting unedited recordings of people's waking routines. The seed for this came from a conversation with my friend Colleen, and it's been growing in my head ever since.
Morning Sounds
Morning Sounds is a free digital series by Brad Rose collecting unedited recordings of waking routines. We're all remaking our routines and revising expectations. Mornings are where that shows up int...
morningsounds.bandcamp.com
Start the new year out with a sea of wondrous sounds! LISTENING WITH POINT REYES, this Saturday Jan 10th, 2-4pm: www.eventbrite.com/.../listenin.... Join sound recordists Ernst Karel and Cheryl E. Leonard and explore a variety of habitats in Point Reyes National Seashore through audio recordings.
Start the new year out with a sea of wondrous sounds! LISTENING WITH POINT REYES, January 10, 2026, 2-4pm. Register now: www.eventbrite.com/e/listening-... Join Ernst Karel and Cheryl E. Leonard for a listening session in which we explore Point Reyes National Seashore through audio recordings.
In a series of recent moves, the Trump administration and Congress have waged an all-out assault on the Arctic, aiming to maximize drilling across the entire region. Here’s a roadmap of what Congress and the Trump administration are planning, and what you can do to stop it.
The Step-by-Step Plan to Sell Off the Arctic, and What You Can Do About It
The Trump administration and Congress have waged an all-out assault on the Arctic. Here are three actions you can take to protect it.
earthjustice.org
Excited that my new Arctic album, "near the bear" is featured in Bandcamp's Best Field Recordings this month. Thank you Matthew Blackwell. "...a deep interrogation of our place in the world, put into high relief against the brilliant whites and blues of the High Arctic."
The Best Field Recordings on Bandcamp, October 2025
The best sounds captured outside the studio and released in the last month.
daily.bandcamp.com
A big thank you to Tobias Fischer for the opportunity to respond to such thoughtful questions on listening, sound, and music! 15questions.net/interview/ch...
"near the bear," is out today! From walrus encounters at 79° N to watching the ocean freeze at -35° C, the album celebrates the High Arctic. Sounds played on natural and human-made objects intertwine with field recordings and site-specific improvisations in five works about Svalbard & Greenland.
My new Arctic album is now available for preorder: f-o-m.bandcamp.com/album/near-t...! Five compositions inspired by the unique wildlife, environments, and human histories of Svalbard and Greenland. Available from forms of minutiae as a limited-edition CD+booklet or digital download+PDF booklet.
Things I played at the UB radio salon on Sunday
Come on over to the Sunnyvale Public Library this Saturday afternoon for sounds, stories, and instruments from my eco-musical adventures. It’s free! sunnyvale.libcal.com/event/147215...
Listening with the Wild: Eco-Composer Cheryl Leonard
Join us for a sonic journey with composer Cheryl E. Leonard, who crafts immersive soundscapes using field recordings and musical instruments made from shells, bones, rocks,...
sunnyvale.libcal.com
Setup for my performances this Sunday at Headlands Center for the Arts as part of their Summer Open House. I’ll be in the Gym doing a sound installation and two live sets!
Instruments for my set earlier today at the San Francisco Main Library. Thanks to all who came out to listen!
My table at the end of last night’s Sonic Cartography improv gig in Berkeley. Good fun!
Pleased to announce that Euphotic’s latest album (which I played on and mixed) is out today on Confront Recordings: confrontrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/clastic
Recording locations from last weekend’s Nature Sounds Society Workshop: Sierra Valley, Carmen Valley, and Yuba Pass. Early, chilly, good times!
I spoke with the brilliant @jonathan-watts.bsky.social about the experience of writing "with" rivers; about freshwater and life and power—and about hope as a discipline. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Rob Macfarlane : ‘Sometimes I felt as if the river was writing me’
The writer and poet on reimagining rivers as living beings, the ecological crisis near and far and why copyright laws should protect nature
theguardian.com
Recording at Rawhiti Cave (near Takata, New Zealand) two days ago: drippy!
BREAKING: Several Bay Area arts nonprofits received emails Friday afternoon that their grants from the National Endowment for the Arts have been canceled — including SCRAP, the San Francisco creative reuse center; the Oakland Theater Project; and The Lab.
NEA Grants Canceled to Bay Area Arts Nonprofits | KQED
The National Endowment for the Humanities suddenly canceled grants to nonprofits on Friday afternoon.
kqed.org
Excited that music, natural-object instruments, and the graphic score from my composition "Littoral" are included in Marin MOCA's latest exhibition, "Future Flows." www.marinmoca.org/see-and-expe...
