Biography Highlights
I feel so privileged… to have been featured with Big Bands and Small groups of different types — Working with many musicians and meeting audience members during those times has always been such a fun and exciting part of my job!
Leanne or Leanne & Friends perform for all kinds of occasions
Since 13, I have been entertaining people with music — starting out in the church choir, where the leader asked me to perform Solos. At that early age, beginning to sing on air for a radio broadcast on AM radio, and a few years later, providing solo work in Italian for television advertising in Switzerland, where I lived for two years.
Growing up, my Mother and I loved to watch old black & white movies, particularly stories of famous singers, Broadway, and bands and their music. Singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday, the Sassy Sarah Vaughn, The Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra, etc. took over my brain, along with the Big Band Singers of the 40’s. For a time, I thought I had been born way too late!
Age: EARLY 20’s. The classical training I had undergone allowed me to become a regular member of a Major Market Symphony Chorus for over Five years. Through that group, I was asked to perform as a guest Soprano for a Joeffrey Ballet production in an off-stage women’s trio, while the ballet dancers danced their beautiful story out on stage.
It was so interesting and fun to see the dancers behind the curtain as they entered and exited the stage at various times. When they exited to the backstage, you could see the pain on their faces as they grabbed and rubbed their feet (swearing profanities), and it occurred to me at that time that creating something beautiful sometimes takes a lot of dedication and pain!
Throughout the same period, I held a Staff position as Soloist for a large Catholic Church for two years. I loved singing from the back of the church, up in the choir loft with the music soaring, some aria by Handel, Bach, or some anthem for that day.
Age: MID — LATE 20’s. After several years of loving Jazz, Pop, Bossa, Soul and Blues, things took a turn into less of the Classics and into other types of music when I was offered the “Girl Singer” role with three different Big Bands. As a result, I found myself singing and grooving to the sounds of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Stan Kenton, singing some wonderful arrangements that had been done in the swinging Big Band Era — so much fun!
Over time, this Big Band work led to performing with many Jazz Trios, Quartets and Quintets, which I have done now for many audiences of wonderful folks for much of my life up to the present — along with Inspirational and Semi-Classical Music for Ceremonies and Celebrations.
All the life experiences, all the music a musician has studied, performed and heard over the years, at some point, blends into a style that is totally unique. It becomes like Everything Everywhere All at Once!
That is the beauty and fascination of life as a musician/singer or what ever role you happen to be living. Everything Everywhere All at Once — fantastic!