AES New York 2019 Presenter or Author
Leslie Gaston-Bird
Primary Affiliation: Mix Messiah Productions - Brighton, UK
Secondary Affiliation: Audio Engineering Society - London, UK
AES Member Type: Fellow
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Leslie Gaston-Bird is the author of “Women in Audio” which will be published by Focal Press (a division of Routledge) in December, 2019. She currently serves as AES Governor-at-Large and Chair of the AES Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
Leslie is proud to be from Dayton, Ohio. She studied classical piano as a child. Many of her young years were spent in a Montessori setting. At Chaminade-Julienne High School, she played in Jazz Lab Band (piano and keys), Chorus (Piano Accompanist), Marching Band (Snare, Marimba), Symphonic Band (Percussion) and String Ensemble (Double Bass).
Leslie enrolled in Indiana University in 1987 to pursue an A.S. degree in Audio Technology and a B.A degree in Telecommunications. She studied with Wayne Jackson and Dr. David Pickett, and recorded many operas, ensembles, and recitals at IU, and assisted Pickett on Claude Baker's “Omaggie e Fantasie” work for double bass.
Shortly after graduating in 1991, Leslie was hired at National Public Radio in Washington, D.C. as a Broadcast / Recording Technician. She engineered many shows, such as “Morning Edition”, “All Things Considered”, “Talk of the Nation” and “Performance Today”.
In 1995 Leslie moved to Denver to work for Colorado Public Radio, putting together hundreds of weekly features during her 7-year career there. In 2002, along with Kelley Griffin and Dan Drayer, she earned an Edward R. Murrow Award (Large Market Documentary) for “A Columbine Diary”. In 1998, she began recording the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (under the direction of Marin Alsop) for broadcast on CPR's "Colorado Spotlight" and NPR's "Performance Today".
In 2002, Leslie began working at Post Modern Company in Denver, Colorado, restoring soundtracks for classic Sony / Columbia films from as early as the 1930's.
Also in 2002 she began work on her Master of Science in Recording Arts (MSRA) degree at the University of Colorado Denver (UCD). Her mentors were the late Dr. Roy Pritts and the late Richard Sanders. She earned her MS degree in 2003 with a thesis titled, “Music Video Verite”, a pioneering work in recording mulititrack audio alongside performances filmed in multiple locations and edited together as one seamless performance.
Shortly afterwards, she accepted a tenure-track position at UCD and taught there as an Associate Professor of Recording Arts (tenured 2012). In 2011 she was granted a Fulbright award to research Blu-Ray audio at the University of York in York, England. In 2018, she relocated with her family to Brighton, England and now teaches part-time at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London.
Leslie has been involved in research with Dolby Laboratories in San Fransisco and Gates Planetarium in Denver. She has an impressive list of journal articles, presentations, and invited speaking engagements. She continues to do freelance work as Mix Messiah Productions, and is always exploring ways to improve the audio experience as a whole. She is a member of MPSE and AMPS, and her recent films include “A Feral World”, “Three Worlds, One Stage”, “Cinema is the Weapon”,
(a film essay about cinematographer Bradford Young) and “Leap of Faith” (a documentary about the making of “The Exorcist” which premiered at the Vienna Film Festival in 2019).
More Info: http://WomenInAudioBook.com
Session List
Oct 16:
RS05: SoundGirls Presents: What it Takes to Have a Successful Career in Audio (Moderator)
Oct 18:
H06: African Americans in Audio (Moderator)
Oct 19:
Diversity & Inclusion Town Hall (Moderator)