Mario Diaz de Leon

Mario Diaz de Leon is a composer and performer exploring intersections of sound, spirituality, and technology across classical chamber and electronic music. His works have been acclaimed for their "remarkable textures and vivid atmosphere" (New Yorker), "intensity and depth" (Groove), "snarling exuberance" (Pitchfork), and "hallucinatory intensity" (New York Times).

Diaz de Leon's compositions have been performed at venues including Zankel Hall, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, San Francisco Symphony SoundBox, Chicago Symphony Center, Big Ears Festival, Ojai Festival, National Gallery of Art (Washington), Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Southbank Centre (London UK), Venice Biennale (IT), Kölner Philharmonie (DE), Lucerne Festival (CH), and Musica Nova Helsinki (FI). His chamber music is documented across four critically acclaimed albums on the Denovali and Tzadik labels, and his scores are published by Project Schott New York.

As performer, his live electronic works span concert to club settings, and he has performed internationally at festivals including CTM (Berlin DE), Donaufestival (Krems AT), Sacrum Profanum (Krakow PL), and at US venues including Nowadays (NYC), NonSequitur (Seattle), Roulette, The Kitchen, and Issue Project Room. Diaz de Leon's live hardware techno sets are improvisation-based, traversing hypnotic grooves and prismatic textures. His solo synthesizer works such as "River of Life" (2025) and "Heart Thread" (2022) convey pilgrimages from the meditative to the kinetic and back, pursuing an immersive, ecstatic sound.

He has received commissions from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, Loadbang, Anzû Quartet, Claire Chase, Rebekah Heller, Chamber Music America, and New York State Council on the Arts. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of TAK Ensemble and the experimental performance venue Roulette.

Diaz de Leon has a notable history as guitarist, songwriter, and collaborator, from his early involvement with the influential hardcore band Disembodied, to cofounding the death metal entity Luminous Vault, whose full length "Animate the Emptiness" was released to critical acclaim in 2022. His electroacoustic improvisation trio Bloodmist has toured internationally and released four albums, which have received coverage in WIRE Magazine, National Public Radio, and Downbeat Magazine.

Dr. Diaz de Leon has been an invited guest presenter at NYU Steinhardt, Trinity Church NYC, The University of Washington, The University of Memphis, and has served as Composer in Residence for the Walden School Young Musicians Program. Prior to joining Stevens in 2018, he held a Core Lecturer appointment at Columbia, while concurrently teaching at the Computer Music Center. During his studies at Columbia and Oberlin, his principal composition teachers were George E. Lewis, Fabien Lévy, and Randy Coleman.

HMU 194 History of American Popular Music (Fall 2026)
HMU 195 History of Electronic and Experimental Music ​(Spring 2026)
HMU 301 Communication Practices (Spring 2026)
HMU 404 Electronic Dance Music Production (Spring 2026)