Anthony T. Leach received the Kjell Meling Award for Distinction in the Arts and Humanities on Thursday, Oct. 15, in the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts at Penn State Altoona.
Leach, professor of music/music education at University Park, is director and founder of the Essence of Joy choir. He is the immediate past conductor of the Penn State University Choir and taught undergraduate and graduate courses in choral music education. Leach holds a doctorate in music education and a master of music in conducting from Penn State, as well as a bachelor of science in music education from Lebanon Valley College. During the 2009-10 academic year, Leach served as the Penn State University Laureate.
Leach taught music in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York City for 14 years. His choirs have performed at festivals throughout the United States and Canada as well as tours of England, Scotland, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Germany, France, South Africa, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. He has appeared as guest conductor for choral festivals and workshops in Maryland, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, North Carolina, New York, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Kentucky and Massachusetts. In 2004, Leach was co-conductor of the World Youth Choir sponsored by the International Federation of Choral Musicians (IFCM) in South Korea and Japan. Essence of Joy has performed for many professional organizations in America including the Pennsylvania Music Educators Conference, Eastern Division of the National Association for Music Education, National Association for Music Education, Eastern Division of the American Choral Directors Association, American Choral Directors Association, and the national board of the NAACP.
In addition to his responsibilities at Penn State, Leach serves as conductor of the Essence of Joy Alumni Singers and Essence 2 Ltd. He is also artist in residence at New Bethel Baptist Church, Washington, D.C. Leach is chair for the Music in Worship committee of the Eastern Division of the American Choral Directors Association.
Penn State Altoona initiated the Meling Award in 2006 to honor the memory of its longtime associate dean for Academic Affairs, who died in 2005. The award is intended to memorialize Meling's love of literature and language and his unwavering support as an administrator for the development of Penn State Altoona's faculty as scholars and artists.