The works, by composer Cheryl Leonard, are based on phenomena such as the mysterious racing rocks of Death Valley, ocean waves and eddies, rockfall on mountains, wobbling boulders, patterns of wind on grass, the sculpting of landscapes by glaciers, water flow through falls and rapids, and shifting tectonic plates. This performance is presented in conjunction with Listen: Making Sense of Sound, a major new exhibit collection at the Exploratorium, and is included in the price of admission to the Exploratorium.

About the Artist: Cheryl Leonard holds a BA from Hampshire College and an MA from Mills College, both in music composition. She has studied composition and electronic music with Alvin Curran, Chris Brown, George Lewis, Frederic Rzewski, Laeticia Sonami, Salvatore Maccia, and Alan Bonde; and performance art with Moira Roth, Carole E. Schneemann, and Betsy Damon.

Leonard's compositions have been performed at Sushi Gallery, Highways, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the San Francisco Butoh Festival, the Big Sur Experimental Music Festival, SoundCulture 96, and the National Conference of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the U.S., among others.

In 1999, Leonard's instrument/sculpture The Underwater Flying Machine was shown at Lincoln Center's Day of Homemade Instruments in NYC. She is the recipient of an ASCAP Foundation Grant to Young Composers, the Elizabeth Mills Crothers Composition Prize, a Meet the Composer Grant, and a William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Honorary Fellowship. She has been awarded residencies at the Djerassi Resident Artist Program, Engine 27, Villa Montalvo, and The Lab (with RK Corral), and has been honored in New Langton Art's Bay Area Awards Show.

By www.exploratorium.edu