Education
- Advanced Certificate, The Juilliard School
- MMus, Yale University
- BMus, University of Toronto
Biography
Leslie holds the position of principal flute with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, a post she has held since 2008. As guest principal flute, she has played with the Hallé Orchestra under Kent Nagano, the Bournemouth Symphony, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, National Ballet Orchestra, and Esprit. She has toured through Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Europe and the U.S. with Sir Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
As soloist, Leslie has performed with orchestras across Canada, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra. She has presented recitals across the UK with numerous BBC Radio 3 broadcasts, including two live recital broadcasts from the world-famous Wigmore Hall, and throughout Canada, including Jeunesses Musicales and Debut Atlantic tours and numerous national and regional CBC broadcasts. Other notable recital engagements include at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago, Taipei’s National Concert Hall, and the National Museum in Bogotá, Colombia. Festival appearances include Banff International String Quartet Festival, Belle-Ile (France), Bogotá, Ottawa’s Chamberfest, the Oregon Bach Festival, Salzburg, Sorrento, Sweetwater, the Stratford International Flute Festival (UK), and the Toronto Summer Music Festival.
Leslie’s debut CD, Beyond the Iron Curtain, released by CALA/United, was described by Gramophone Magazine as an “…immensely worthwhile contribution to the catalogue.” Her second solo CD, Opera Fantaisie, was described as “…faultless, perhaps even definitive readings of repertoire from the ‘golden age of the flute’” (Wholenote Magazine).
At the age of seventeen, Leslie won First Prize in the Canadian National Competitive Festival of Music. Following the completion of her Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Toronto, where she studied with Douglas Stewart, she was awarded a Canada Council Grant to study with the legendary Thomas Nyfenger at Yale University. While still a student at Yale, Leslie won Top Prize in the woodwind category of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s National Young Performers’ Competition. Upon completion of her Master’s degree at Yale University, where she was named Outstanding Performance Major, Leslie moved to New York where she continued her studies with Julius Baker at the renowned Juilliard School.