Five Questions with Mizzou Composer Nate Leslie
By Eric Dundon
When St. Louis Symphony Orchestra musicians present chamber music as part of the SLSO’s Live at The Sheldon series, they’re given artistic control of the program and perform a wide range of repertoire not generally heard on classical programs. This also includes chamber music by rising composers at the University of Missouri, part of the orchestra’s long-running collaboration with the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI)—a program of the university that supports emerging composers.
On most Live at The Sheldon programs this season, SLSO musicians will give the world premiere performances of MNMI composers’ works, including Nate Leslie’s Open Your Eyes, Now Is The Time for string quartet on April 30, 2026—the final Live at The Sheldon concert of the 2025/26 season.
Here, Leslie talks about the world premiere of Open Your Eyes, Now Is The Time.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What is your musical history? How has it influenced your voice so far as a composer?”
My musical history is decently trashy. My dad is one of the hair rocker types, so I grew up around a bunch of bald 50-something guys with sunglass tans who were really into Iron Maiden and braided their beards with intricate beads. All that sounds very unserious, but I do think that sort of upbringing has made me unafraid to be cringe. So much of the coolest art would probably make you cringe if you saw it in the wrong context. Undoubtedly, I often times do find myself in that wrong context, but it feels good to be uninhibited in that way.
Tell us about your composition process.
Time constraints grow smaller and smaller as the number of projects I have to work on has been continually increasing. Because of this, I’ve been trying to be more methodical about going in with as much of a plan as is reasonable. I hear some composers talk about how you have to have everything planned before you even start putting notes on the page, and others say that it totally kills creativity. So, right now, I am trying to find a niche within that. I’ve found it especially helpful recently to focus on texture, the “middle peak” and the ending. Starting from there usually gives a clearer picture of where the music is going than starting from the beginning and hoping everything falls in line.
Tell us about your piece, which will receive its world premiere at the April 30 Live at The Sheldon chamber music concert.
My piece is called Open Your Eyes, Now Is The Time., which I suppose sort of reads like a fortune cookie. Roughly, this piece is about my journey in realizing the kind of person I would like to become and what it will take to step into that version of myself. Sonically, I spent some time trying to figure out how to get real power out of the instrumentation.
What should audiences listen for in your piece? What do you hope they take away from listening?
I’m really into playing with an “impulse and response” idea (especially within an odd meter), so you will hear several instances of rhythms folding back on themselves and repeated forte-to-pianissimo gestures. Listen for when the pattern breaks out of 7/16 as well.
This performance is a result of the collaboration between the SLSO and the Mizzou New Music Initiative, connecting the orchestra to rising composers’ voices. What does the experience of having professional musicians perform your music mean to you? What do you anticipate learning or taking away from the experience?
It means everything! Of course, I am grateful to have musicians of this caliber working on what I created. Most of the time, composing is not fun for me… the gratifying part of being a composer is hearing the aural image you have in your head leap out to you in a real space for the first time, produced by human beings who care about your artistic voice. I hope that I can come away from this experience with a better understanding of the sound pallet of the string quartet.
Eric Dundon is the SLSO’s Public Relations Director.
