bio
Leslie Niesh
At the age of 22, Leslie’s tuba playing career has already taken him to venues that span from the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia to Matt and Fred’s Jazz Bar in Manchester. He has recently finished his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, gaining a first class honours degree and a Professional Performance Diploma. He is looking forward to embarking on the one year postgraduate diploma course at the RNCM with the financial help of a ‘Star Award?from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and a ‘Professor Charles Leggett Award?from the Musicians Benevolent Fund. Leslie has also been selected for inclusion on the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme.
From a young age, Leslie was very keen to play solos and won numerous prizes and scholarships, including Liverpool Echo Young Musician of the Year, the Solo Prize at the Tuba Euphonium Conference and a scholarship from the MUSICAS Fund. He has also performed concertos with the Merseyside Youth Orchestra, Wirral Symphony Orchestra, RNCM Junior School Orchestra, RNCM Brass Band and the RNCM Symphony Orchestra. More recently, he performed the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto with the Wimbledon Symphony Orchestra as an artist for the Young Concert Artist Trust. Away from the UK, he travelled to Finland to compete in the finals of the International Tuba Euphonium Competition and was the guest soloist with the Point of Ayr band at the World Brass Band championships in Kerkrade, Holland Also, Leslie reached the Brass Final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year, the Final of the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe and was awarded the Goronwy Evans Memorial Award for outstanding brass playing at the RNCM.
As a freelance musician, he has worked with many of the leading orchestras in the UK, including the Halle Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and Remix, a contemporary music ensemble based in Portugal. Leslie is also a keen chamber musician. He plays in the brass quintet “Polyphonic Brass" which works extensively throughout the Northwest as part of the Live Music Now! Scheme and the tuba quartet Tubalaté. Leslie is a Besson performing artist with Tubalaté and their busy touring schedule has seen them performing in Latvia, Russia, Budapest and America this year.