Mario Diaz de Leon is a composer, performer, and recording artist, whose creative work explores intersections of sound, spirituality, and technology.
Diaz de Leon’s music has been acclaimed for its “remarkable textures and vivid atmosphere” (New Yorker), “crystalline attacks” (Groove), “snarling exuberance” (Pitchfork), and “hallucinatory intensity” (New York Times). His solo synthesizer works such as “River of Life” (2023) and “Heart Thread” (2022) convey pilgrimages from the meditative to the kinetic and back, pursuing an immersive, ecstatic sound. In 2024, Diaz de Leon debuted his live hardware techno set at NYC’s Nowadays, weaving together ethereal, melodic, and saturated threads. He has also presented solo performances at international festivals including CTM (Berlin DE), Donaufestival (Krems AT), Sacrum Profanum (Krakow PL), and at NYC venues including The Kitchen, Roulette, and Issue Project Room.
In addition to his work as performer and producer of electronic music, his creative output includes dozens of chamber music compositions, which are documented across four albums released on the Denovali and Tzadik labels. He has collaborated extensively with International Contemporary Ensemble, TAK Ensemble, and Talea Ensemble, and received commissions from Anzû Quartet, Loadbang, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His scores are published by Project Schott New York.
As collaborator, Diaz de Leon is a member of the improvisation trio Bloodmist, alongside clarinetist Jeremiah Cymerman and multi-instrumentalist Toby Driver. The group has released four albums, which have received critical acclaim from Wire Magazine, Downbeat, and NPR. He is also guitarist and vocalist in the industrial black metal duo Luminous Vault, alongside bassist Samuel Smith (Artificial Brain). Their debut full length, “Animate the Emptiness” was released in 2022 by Profound Lore Records. In 2023 he collaborated and performed with Eartheater and members of Krallice in a quartet featuring new arrangements of Eartheater songs.
Diaz de Leon holds a doctorate in music composition from Columbia University, and is currently Assistant Professor of Music and Technology at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
To Participate More Fully in the World: An Interview With Mario Diaz de Leon
(A Closer Listen, 2023)
photo: Ebru Yildiz
homepage photo: Katrin Albert