Leah Ofman (b. 1998, she/they) is a composer and vocalist originally from San Francisco, CA. Based in New York City, she attends Manhattan School of Music in pursuit of her Masters of Music, studying with Susan Botti. Leah’s work is concerned with embodiment, emulating the vulnerability and tenderness of existing in a body through delicate sounds which interact with the physicality of the instrument and the player. Their music highlights textures, timbres, and noise, encouraging the listener to experience the music with their ear more than their mind and elevating the physical experience of listening.

An avid choral singer, Leah currently sings with C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, and has previously sung with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Mouthscape Choir and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.

Leah holds a BMus in music theory and composition with a minor in philosophy from New York University, where she studied with Caroline Shaw and Justin Dello Joio. While at NYU, she also studied in Paris at IRCAM and at L’ecole normale Alfred Cortot under Michel Merlet. Leah was the co-Artistic Director of Pulsing & Shaking, a music festival celebrating the contemporary music of New York, and acted as Vice President of the NYU Composers Collective, where she produced concerts of student works. Leah has been awarded the 2021 Ruth Crawford Seeger Award (Alba Composition Festival, Alba, Italy) and the 2020 Founder’s Day Award for Academic Achievement (NYU), and received an honorable mention in the 2020 Alev Lenz Recompose Competition. She has been commissioned by The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in New York, the Musae Ensemble in San Francisco, C4: the Choral Composer-Conductor Collective in New York, and by bassist Ian Fales, with the support of the Robert Black Foundation.