Leonard V. Ball, Jr.

Leonard V. Ball, Jr. was Associate Professor Emeritus of Composition and Theory at the University of Georgia, where he taught music theory, acoustic composition, electronic composition, and music technology. While at UGA, he was also Director of the University of Georgia electronic studio from 1987 to 1995; Director of the Roger and Phyllis Dancz Center for New Music Electronic Studios from 1995 to 2001; Director of the Roger and Phyllis Dancz Center for New Music from 2002 to June 2015; and Chair of the Composition/Theory area from 2010 to June 2015.

Ball’s works have been performed across the United States and in Europe, South America, and Japan. His electronic works have focused on interactivity using movement (dance) as a control source for sound generation/manipulation and, more recently, real-time manipulation of instrumentally produced sound. In 2016, his work ..leaves~ ~ ~ (he.. ~ she.. ~ the.. ~), for flute, viola, and harp, was recorded by members of the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra in the Czech Republic, produced by PARMA Recordings, and mastered by PARMA in the United States. Also in 2016, Ball was selected as a semi-finalist in The American Prize in Composition Chamber Music (Professional Division) contest for his song cycle The World Turns Softly. In 2019, he was selected as a finalist in The American Prize in Composition 2018-19 contest, this time in the Instrumental Chamber Music (Professional Division), for the work ice crystals ~ lava flows~ ~, a real-time sound manipulation work for one performer, three saxophones, and Max 7 software using an Apple MacBook Pro as the processing platform.

Born in Richmond VA and brought up in eastern North Carolina, Ball’s musically formative years were spent as a vocalist/guitarist in legacy dance bands, folk groups and light rock bands, eventually culminating in professional work as an arranger/performer for several folk and bluegrass groups. After an eight-year hiatus with the United States Army, he earned a Bachelor of Music degree, with honors, in Theory and Composition and a Master of Music degree in Composition from Kansas State University. In 1987, immediately before joining the faculty of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia, he completed the Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis). His principal teachers were T. Hanley Jackson, John Baur, and Donald Freund.