Dr. Leo Singer is an active American cellist, teacher, administrator, and scholar. Leo serves as the Artistic Manager for the University of Michigan Youth Performing Arts Pre-College, a program that provides world class music instruction to students in Michigan. Dr. Singer also recently joined the cello faculty at The University of Michigan - Flint, and Concordia University - Ann Arbor. In the summer, Leo is on faculty at the esteemed Center Stage Strings program on the University of Michigan campus. As a performer, Dr. Singer has enjoyed a multifaceted career collaborating with many of the great artists of our time, including members of the Emerson, Cavani, Verona, and Euclid String Quartets, as well as Clive Greensmith, Carol Wincenc, Fabiola Kim, Robert McDuffie, and many others. An experienced orchestral musician, Leo has played principal cello of the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra, and more. As a teacher, Leo has seen his students attend the finest music schools and summer festivals in the world, including the Juilliard School, Rice University, Manhattan School of Music, The University of Michigan, The Aspen Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Music Academy of the West and others. An avid scholar of technical studies, Leo authored his own book “Changes of Position,” which focuses on principles and concepts for the left-hand.
Previous artistic leadership include serving as Coordinator and Distinguished Artist of Cello at the McDuffie Center for Strings, as well as founding and performing as Artistic Director of the Ann Arbor Chamber Fest, a series of chamber music concerts presented by doctoral students and professional musicians in the Ann Arbor area. During his college years, Leo was the Music Director of the Low Strung cello ensemble, the largest all-cello rock and pop ensemble in the world. This group has recorded three albums, toured around the United States and the globe, and continues to perform today. Also at University, Leo was granted the Richter Summer Research Fellowship as well as the highly coveted Bates International Research Fellowship, which he used to study original Brahms’ manuscripts in Vienna. Leo received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University, where he graduated with distinction in the Intensive Music Major. He went on to receive his Master’s Degree and Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan, serving as teaching assistant for world renowned pedagogue Richard Aaron. Previous primary instructors are Ole Akahoshi, Andre Emelianoff and Sibylle Johner. Leo plays an award-winning cello made by Lawrence Wilke in 2012, as well as an Italian cello made in the late 1700s.
