Cheryl Leonard

San Francisco-based composer, performer and instrument builder Cheryl Leonard investigated the "sound" and of natural objects such as stones, wood, water, ice, sand, shells, feathers and bones. After Firn (2002) and the two suites of Fable / A History Of Insects (2002), she collected field recordings of Antarctica on Chattermarks (All Ways North, 2010).

Portholes (2012) was a collaboration with Anka Draugelates. More field recordings surfaced on Sounds From Ocean Point (2012). Isinglass (2016) was a collaboration with Bryan Day and Jeph Jerman.

Several of her projects focused on climate change and extinction of species. Notably, the three lengthy pieces of Watershed (2019): Confluences (13:41), Frozen Over (21:27) and Watershed (16:20).

Multiple Park (2021) was a collaboration with Jon "Wobbly" Leidecker performed with instruments such as pineneedle swishers, bamboo skewers, dripping homemade icicles, scientific glassware, rocks, shell necklace, fish vertebrae, metal chopsticks, marbles, kelp flute, etc.

The cassette Schism (2021) documents two lengthy performances: Schism (19:50) and Eremozoic (14:40). After Antarctica - Music From The Ice (2022), and the 32-minute piece of Littoral (2023), she devoted Near the Bear (2025) to glaciers.

She also formed the trio Euphotic with veteran jazz trumpet "deconstructor" Tom Djll (who had moved to Mills College in 1993) and sound sculptor and instrument inventor Bryan Day (who had moved from Nebraska in 2013) to further expand music for custom-made "instruments". They released the album Isopleths (Public Eyesore, 2020), the limited-edition cassette Conjugate Regions (2022), and the album Clastic (2025).