GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO | Leonardo Gala is the new artist in residence at East End Arts.

A new artist, Leonardo Gala, has taken up residence in the historic Corwin Carriage House at East End Arts in Riverhead. Mr. Gala is a pianist, composer and MIDI (computerized musical instrumentation) audio artist who was invited to stay at the carriage house through May 19. He will use the time to compose new work and lead workshops to educate local musicians, he said on Friday, his premiere evening in Riverhead.

“I’ll be holding a workshop to teach musicians how to record music on their computer,” he said. That class will run over two 5-week sessions: Tuesdays between Feb. 28 and Mar. 27 and Saturdays between Apr. 21 and May 19.

He will also lead a musical history workshop entitled “Tour of Music History Through the Ages” in two 5-week sessions: Saturdays between Mar. 3 and 31 and Tuesdays between Apr. 17 and May 15.

Mr. Gala has been instructing piano for over 30 years and exploring composition, both digital and manual, for over 40 years.

He held his first public piano recital on Aug. 15, 1956. He experimented with composition through the 1960s and in the mid 70s began exploring the works of Spanish and Latin American composers. He has studied under a host of music professionals, including Argentinian pianists Eduardo Delgado and Arminda Canteros. Mr. Gala’s grandfather, a concertmaster, was his first mentor.

“Music is a never-ending search for beautiful and interesting sonorities,” Mr. Gala wrote in his artist’s statement on the East End Arts website. “Every human being has the innate capacity to express their creativity.”

For more information about Mr. Gala or the East End arts workshops, contact the East End Arts School at 369-2171, visit the East End Arts blog or send an email to [email protected].

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