Nicknamed “the storyteller” and “a daring prince” by the media during his time at the Queen Elisabeth Competition, and described as “one of those artists who defy analysis, because words simply cannot describe the powerful emotions they evoke” (RTBF), Leland is a first prize winner of the Walter W. Naumburg International Cello Competition, an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, and a third prize winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition.

Highlights for Leland’s 2026-2027 season include concerto appearances at home with the Kendall Square Orchestra and the Apollo Ensemble of Boston, a recital at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, and chamber music at Shriver Hall in Baltimore, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Newport Classical Festival, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and Wigmore Hall in London.  Past engagements have included a sold out debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, performances at Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center, Boston’s Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall, and concerto appearances with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Orchestre Symphonique de Sherbrooke, the DuPage Symphony, the Roswell Symphony Orchestra, and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic.

Despite growing up a part of Boston’s strong youth orchestra culture, Leland feels that chamber music is central to his being, having had formative years at Yellowbarn, Ravinia's Steans Music Institute, Four Seasons Chamber Music Workshop, and the Perlman Music Program’s Summer Music School and its Chamber Music Workshop.  Leland’s love for chamber music has also led him to be a former Artist in Residence of New York Piano Society (NYPS), and former Music Director of Opus 21, a student-run chamber music collective at Princeton.  He is the cellist of Trio Rai, the OAK Trio, the Phaidros Quartet, and also a frequent member of the International Sejong Soloists.

Leland was a long-time student of Kirsten Peltz, Ronald Lowry, and Paul Katz before attending Princeton University, where he graduated with an A.B. in German Literature.  He went on to complete an M.M. at The Juilliard School under the teaching of Minhye Clara Kim, Timothy Eddy, and Natasha Brofsky, and then earned an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory under guidance of Laurence Lesser, Yeesun Kim, and Donald Weilerstein.  Leland performs on a cello by Pietro Guarneri of Venice, c. 1728-30, and a bow by Dominique Peccatte, both of which are on generous loan to him from Canimex Inc.  He resides in Boston, with his 14-year-old cat, Ham.

Updated as of July 2026.