Lelia Molthrop Sadlier

Lelia Molthrop Sadlier has won national awards for both her composition and her piano skills. Trained at the top conservatories in both disciplines, she brings the unique perspective of interpreter turned creator. A proponent of new music, Lelia has premiered dozens of pieces by both established and up-and-coming composers. Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, Lelia holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music where she studied piano with Nelita True and composition with Samuel Adler and Warren Bensen, and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School where she studied piano with Grammy award winning pianist, Emanuel Ax, and composition with Stanley Wolfe. Lelia completed the Doctor of Music degree in Piano Performance at The Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, where she worked with Edmund Battersby and Leonard Hokanson.

As a composer, Lelia began her studies at the age of seven. Soon thereafter she won both first and third prize at the Music Teacher’s National Association Composition Competition and was the youngest-ever composer to study with Leonard Bernstein at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute (1987). She was also an ASCAP Young Composer’s Competition finalist. Her piece for solo flute, “Three Fragments of a Crystal Ball,” was featured on an American Music Week program at the Konzerthaus-Mozartsaal in Vienna, Austria and performed by the legendary principal flautist of the Vienna Philharmonic, Wolfgang Schulz. After a fifteen-year hiatus, Lelia returned to her compositional roots with a standing ovation for the world premier of her mini one-man opera, “The Mountain Whippoorwill” in Falmouth, England. With demand for her choral music mounting, she completed twelve choral pieces in 2016 and served as a Composer-in-Residence and pianist for the McAllen Independent School District. She is currently a Lecturer in Piano at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley.

You can find Lelia Molthrop Sadlier's music here.

Lelia Molthrop Sadlier's website