Kalun Leung
trombone
Kalun Leung (he/him) is a collaborative trombonist, augmented instrumentalist, and sound artist with an extended practice in instrument building, electronics, and movement. His projects are motivated by the exploration of new and unexpected contexts in which the trombone can thrive, an interdisciplinary and research-based approach that has led to the invention of new electronic trombone augmentations, the study of Balkan brass band music in Guča, the premiere of never-before-seen Keith Haring computer art, the mounting of a Fluxus-inspired trombone sound sculpture, and site-specific improvisations with landfills and robots.
As a performer, he is a major proponent for the presentation of new work through commissioning, collective creation, and improvisation, and performs in new music, improvised, jazz, inter-arts and folk music ensembles in New York City and Tiohtià:ke/Montréal where he is based. He has premiered works by George Lewis, Bekah Simms, and Lesley Mok, and has contributed to a GRAMMY-winning album with the Experiential Orchestra. He has collaborated with the International Contemporary Ensemble, Nation Beat, Slavic Soul Party, Zlatne Uste, David Taylor and Felix del Tredici (So Wrong it’s Right), Billy Martin (Medeski Martin & Wood), John Aaron Cockburn (Bruce Cockburn, Little Suns), and many others.
As an interdisciplinary creator, he was a member of the NY-based sound and movement collective ECHOEnsemble from 2018 to 2020 and is creating new work for the mubone with choreographer Bettina Szabo. He creates and performs with the mime and sound duo ék, with trumpetist and multidisciplinary artist Émilie Fortin. He explores the intersection of art and technology in his own work and in projects with instrument designers Frank Spigner, creator of the Splunger mute, and Travis West, creator and technical lead for the mubone. The mubone has been published in the conference on Movement and Computing (MOCO) and was presented at the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music (IRCAM) in Paris. It will be published in the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) in 2022.
From 2019 to 2022, Kalun helped design, launch, and administer the Performer-Composer Master of Music at The New School as the Assistant Director of Academic Affairs. As a conservatory-trained musician who was charged to “conserve” an artistic tradition, this position filled a strong desire for Kalun to create spaces for artists who practice in non-traditional ways. In 2019, Kalun was Composer-in-Residence for the NYU New Music Ensemble, and has held artistic residencies at Harvestworks, Brooklyn Fashion & Design Accelerator (BF+DA), Teatro del Lago, and Orford Musique. He has received grants from the Canada Arts Council and the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) in Research & Creation and Film & Media / New Tech Production respectively, and was awarded Exemplary Service to the Community and State by the New York State Senate in 2017.
