Cheryl E. Leonard is a Californian composer and improviser of music, creating sound sculptures and instruments from found material. She holds BA and MAs in music composition from Hampshire College Mills College respectively, and has studied composition and electronic music with Alvin Curran, Chris Brown, George Lewis, Frederic Rzewski, Laeticia Sonami, Salvatore Maccia, and Alan Bonde. Leonard also studied performance art with Moira Roth, Carole E. Schneemann, and Betsy Damon. In addition to her musical pursuits, Leonard is a mountaineer, studies aikido and Chinese landscape painting, and collects pinecones with handles.