Kendra Preston Leonard

Kendra Preston Leonard (June 11, 1974, New Orleans-August 19, 2026, Humble, Texas) was an American musicologist, poet and librettist. Her scholarship focused on women in music and music in screen history in 20th-century France, Britain, and America. Her creative work spanned three volumes of poetry, numerous song texts, and libretti for opera projects that focus on women’s stories and history.

Education She studied as a cellist at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, The Peabody Conservatory, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the University of Miami before studying musicology at the University of Cincinnati. She received her PhD from the University of Sunderland in 2014.

Career Leonard taught musicology at Westminster Choir College (2009-2011) and was a visiting lecturer at the University of Houston (2019-2020). She held the Thornton Wilder Fellowship at Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (2009-2010) and was awarded the inaugural Judith Tick Fellowship from the Society for American Music (2013-2014) for research on Louise Talma. She was founder and executive director of the Silent Film Sound and Music Archive beginning in 2014.

Leonard’s creative writing includes several volumes of poetry and libretti for numerous opera projects, including Marie Curie Learns to Swim with music by Jessica Rudman and several micro-operas by Lisa Neher. She also served as a teaching artist in libretto writing at Guerrilla Opera.

Selected publications

The Conservatoire Américain: A History, Scarecrow Press, 2007 Shakespeare, Madness and Music: Scoring Insanity in Cinematic Adaptations, Scarecrow Press, 2009 Louise Talma: A Life in Composition, Ashgate Publishing, 2014 Making Mythology, Louisiana Literature Press, 2020 Protectress, a novella in verse, Unsolicited Press, 2022 Grab, Red Ogre Review, 2023 A Registry of Omens, Red Ogre Review, 2024

Selected contributions to vocal works

Marie Curie Learns to Swim, libretto for the opera by Jessica Rudman (2018) The Harbingers, libretto for the opera by Rossa Crean (2020) Protectress, libretto for opera by Jessica Rudman (in progress) This Is Jane, libretto for the opera by Angela Slater (in progress) Sweet Anna, libretto for the opera by Kathryn Woodard (in progress)

Selected articles