Leona has been a musician all her life. She was born with music in her veins and songs in her heart. She was trained from an early age in classical piano and violin, both practical and theory, and by the age of 11 had recorded a piano piece at Studio One in Broadcasting House in Wellington, one of the Royal School of Music examiners having recognized her musicality in her interpretation of a syllabus piece composed by his friend, the composer Kabalevsky. She has searched in vain for this recording to no avail. It is lost in the mists of time.

Leona set up her first recording studio in the early 2000's and hasn't looked back since. In 2022 she unfortunately suffered a severe stroke which according to the medical professionals should have ended her life due to its severity. However you can't kill a weed and here she still is. The stroke rendered her severely disabled with limited walking ability and an immobile left arm and hand. So learning to play bagpipes was sadly no longer an option, although the world at large is eternally grateful I'm sure. Many other options were at hand with which to build a new life so she strode forward, metaphorically, into it.

This website is a testament to her music and a way for her to move forward in her new life.

Never one to eschew a challenge, she is shuffling forward with her recovery. One of the new opportunities presented to her was to compose instrumentals while learning to sing again. She remembered the hours of orchestral arrangement she had undertaken as part of her classical training and so embarked on the cobweb removal and dusting off of these skills that had sat dormant for 55 years. These instrumentals, in the Ambient Orchestral genre, have brought her much joy and have been instrumental (!!) in restoring her broken spirit.

In the spirit of her newly washed brain and soul, this music is free to listen to. However it is all copyrighted, so if you'd like to use any of it for one of your projects please get in touch at kiwiko3@gmail.com.