LEELAH

Set in our future metaverse dominated by instant virtual gratification, an eight-year-old digital native asks for something rare: a real toy, something she can actually play with. Much to her delight, her guardian purchases such an antique and asks for LeeLaH to do one thing: wait until morning to unwrap her shiny mystery. But night can be a long time for a young girl ready to discover the wonders that wait to be uncovered.

“A genuine symbiosis of word and sound, the likes of which haven’t been heard before - no wonder...” (Christoph Huber, artistic director Porgy & Bess, Vienna)

The Jazz Opera Leelah was written in 2019 by the Austrian born musician and composer Vincent Pongracz and the US based poet and vocalist Renee Benson. Pongracz was commissioned by Martin Eberle and the Jazz Orchestra Vorarlberg to write the piece. The composer brought in long time friend and vocalist Renee Benson based out of New Orleans to write and perform the book. With a great team formed, Leelah was born. The compositions elegantly morph between Ellington, Olivier Messiaen, Charles Mingus and are topped with vocals inspired by Nina Simone and Audra McDonald.

In 2022 the music of Leelah was release as a double LP on Jazzwerkstatt Records.

Purchase Leelah on vinyl at Jazzwerkstatt

Recent performances:  

29. December 2022 Porgy & Bess, Vienna28. December 2022 Spielboden, Dornbirn5. March 2020 Jazzwerkstatt Bern, Switzerland19. October 2019 Jazz & The City, Salzburg, Austria  26. July 2019 Popfest Wien, Vienna, Austria1. May 2019 Porgy & Bess, Vienna, Austria30. April 2019 Kammgarn Hard, Austria