Leah Abramson

Composer, songwriter, musician, educator

Bio

Leah Abramson’s music centers the voice. Starting as a singer-songwriter leading her own band, Leah now uses her love of form and melody, along with her academic and choral background, to compose for vocal ensembles and delve into her love of research-based process and conceptual projects. With her MFA in Creative Writing (focus on lyrics), Leah is comfortable in the liminal zone between poetry, lyrics, and music. She is currently working on “Distance Between,” a song cycle and collaboration with poet/therapist Samantha Sternberg, which taps into writing, editing, and composing as a somatic, embodied process. She is also working on a new EP of songs with her band, The Abramson Singers. Leah is the winner of the 2024 Viva Composition Competition (Toronto) for the SATB arrangement of her song, “Skana,” about the first orca held in captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium.

List of Works

This Body (2024) – SATB choral work (2:30)
· Premiered by the C4 Choral Collective, NYC, USA, Dec 14, 2024. From song-cycle-in-progress, Distance Between

Bloom (2024) – SSSAA choral work (6:30)
· Selected for Elektra Treble Choir’s reading session, Vancouver, BC, Oct 2024. From song-cycle-in-progress, Distance Between.

Tether (2024) – SATB choral work (4:25)
· A canon for choir and audience. From song-cycle-in-progress, Distance Between,

Songs For a Lost Pod (2022) – SSSAAA small vocal ensemble with violin, cello, keyboards, guitar and percussion (30:00)
· Premiered by Music on Main & SFU School for Contemporary Arts in May 2022. A song cycle and interdisciplinary performance for 6-voice treble ensemble, 5-piece band, narrator, and shadow projections; music, lyrics, and script by Leah Abramson

Works from Songs For a Lost Pod

Skana (arr 2024) – SATB (3:40)

· SATB arrangement is winner of Viva Singers Composition Competition (Toronto). Premiered by the Viva Chamber Singers (SATB a cappella), May 2024. Available for SSSAAA/SATB a cappella and/or accordion, violin, cello, guitar, percussion

Blood Red Roses (2022) – SSAA or SATB (3:35).
· Trad. arr. with new original lyrics. Published by Cypress Choral Music

Pilot Protest (2022) – SSSAAA + keyboards, violin, cello, guitar, percussion (3:30)

Pender Harbour (2022) – SSSAAA + keyboards, violin, cello, guitar, percussion (3:45)

Fossil Dust (2022) – SSSAAA + keyboards, violin, cello, guitar, percussion (2:50)

Resting Line (2022) – SSSAAA + keyboards, violin, cello, guitar, percussion (3:45)

Lampedusa (2022) – SSSAAA + keyboards, violin, cello, guitar, percussion (4:00)

Hey, Hi, Hello (2022) – two treble voices + 4 spoken voices, keyboards, violin, cello, guitar, percussion (2:45)

The Lost, The Gone (2022) – SSSAAA + keyboards, violin, cello, guitar, percussion (4:45)

Flinches (2020) – Solo soprano and two treble voices (SA) + drums, bass, guitar, keyboards (3:45)
· From musical, Mermaid Spring (arr. James Meger, book by Barbara Adler).

Sugarloaf, a Pineapple (2020) – Duet for soprano and baritone + drums, bass, guitar, keyboards (3:30)
· From musical, Mermaid Spring (arr. James Meger, book by Barbara Adler).

Siren (2019) – For three singers (SSA) + drums, bass, guitar, keyboards (4:15)
· From musical, Mermaid Spring (arr. James Meger, book by Barbara Adler). Premiered at Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Vancouver, BC in 2019.

Lana, Tillandsia (2019) – For solo tenor + drums, bass, guitar, keyboards (5:20)
· From musical, Mermaid Spring (arr. James Meger, book by Barbara Adler). Premiered at Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Vancouver, BC in 2019.

Liftoff Canon Chorale (2019) – SSAA and SATB choral work with optional piano or cello (2:35).
· Original words & music by Leah Abramson. Published by Cypress Choral Music.

Discography

CD and Comic Book: “Songs For a Lost Pod” (2017) Leah Abramson (Headless Owl Records)

Digital Release: “Revisionist” (2017) Dyad (Copperspine Records)

CD and Vinyl LP: “Late Riser” (2013) The Abramson Singers (Copperspine Records)

CD: “The Abramson Singers” (2010) The Abramson Singers (White Whale Records)

CD: “The Shining Darkness” (2008) The Crooked Jades (Jade Note Music)

CD: “No Pedlars or Preachers” (2007) Dyad. Nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award. (Copperspine Records)

CD: “Bedroom/City” (2006) L. Abramson (Copperspine Records)