Mesmerizing melodies, plush harmonic textures and panoptic soulful inspirations are just a few words that best describe the music of Leslie Loh.
In a world of ever advancing digital technology, it is refreshing to see an artist that glorifies tradition and the beauty of musical instruments. Rather than solely employing electronic means, her compositions exude a luscious symphonic sound and the layering of her vulnerable yet poignant voice with the various instruments, sometimes ethnic, coupled with pulsating beats, enthralls.
“Contrast is beauty.” Leslie says. “I marry things that are unexpected. Contrast creates magic, be it colour, texture, sounds, style, etc., and contrast makes the best harmony. Just look at our Earth, between the oceans and the continents, I’m simply doing what’s natural. It brings out the beauty of one another.”
Deeply versed in both classical and contemporary conventions, her effortless art shines for all to see. The development of her unique style is the result of a lifetime of musical influences. Growing up in a talented musical family meant that Leslie was always surrounded by different forms of music.
Born in Hong Kong and raised in San Francisco, British educated Leslie was perfecting her talent from the moment she could walk, studying ballet from just 2 years old and piano, violin and singing at the tender age of 3. No stranger to the stage, Leslie’s passion for orchestral music began when she became the first violinist in the UK National String Academy.
In her final year of an Economics BSc degree at the University of Bristol in the UK, her music recording career started as she jetted between lectures and recording sessions in London. From that moment on, Leslie began penning and developing her own music in both classical and popular spheres, and released her debut pop single, “Satisfied”, which blasted to the No. 1 slot in the UK Music Week Breakers chart. National UK tours where Leslie performed in front of tens of thousands followed across the UK. Her next UK tour and single, “Boom Bang Bang”, were equally as successful with the single featuring on MTV, VH1 and the Box TV in the UK and across Europe.
With a natural acting talent, Leslie studied acting at the London Academy for Radio, Films and Television, the Lee Strasburg Method Studio UK, and Actor’s Space LA.
Music and film offers from the US started flooding in and before long she followed up with a full studio pop rock album, “Metamothosis”, and also branched out to film scoring and production. She was cast in several feature films and became the spokesperson of an international skincare brand.
Closer to home, Leslie’s musical ambitions continued to grow as we saw her working with members of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra in live recordings of her orchestral scores.
Currently in Europe, Leslie is working with Pip Williams (a la Elton John, Barbara Streisand, Diana Ross) on several orchestral shows which will hit the road later in the year.
Simultaneously she is working on a series of epic symphonic stage shows. These will see her original works being performed by symphony and philharmonic orchestras from all around the world. Her concept is the first of its kind and promises to be a most satisfying visual and sonic experience that those in the industry have sighted to be revolutionary.
Leslie’s music is evocative on many levels creating in her audience myriad emotional experiences, each melody conjuring a different vista. All her works, be it vocal, instrumental, orchestral or theatrical, are laced with passion. A true audio-visual artist!