Leonie Cohen

Musical Director / Performer

Leonie is one of Sydney’s foremost jazz pianists and composers. After studying jazz at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in the early 1990s, Leonie has performed extensively throughout Sydney (Opera House, Basement, Soup Plus, Side-On Café, Sound Lounge) and has toured to Singapore (Raffles Theatre), Shanghai (Glamour Room), Hong Kong (Fringe Theatre), Japan (JCS), Melbourne (Spiegel Tent, Bennetts Lane) and Adelaide (Cabaret Festival). In 2008 she toured through the US and Australia with entertainer David Campbell, helped form the popular Tango Saloon jazz band in 2009 (with whom she stills plays) and this year was the musical director on underground hit The Wild Party which played three seasons at Sydney’s Raval. Leonie has composed music for film, theatre, and dance productions (Henry’s Stories, Bus, Bodies, Schnecke-Nudel, Monkeyshines, Darlingwood Tales, They Call Me Fu Zhu Lu) and performs with and writes for her own jazz ensemble the Leonie Cohen Quartet. The band released its debut CD Jerusalem in 2005 after being commissioned by the ABC. A second eponymous album was produced and released by the ABC earlier this year. Alongside performing, Leonie teaches piano. She has worked extensively with young children, teaching for many years at the Yamaha Music School, Emanuel School and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.