About

MAYA SONGS is Dr. Maya Angelou’s most beloved poetry set to music. There are 18 original songs scored for strings, piano and female singers. 

I first corresponded with Dr. Angelou in the 1970s. We agreed that we shared a love of all kinds of music “from Bach and Brahms to Roberta Flack and Sarah Vaughan”. I kept that in mind while setting her poems to music. Dr. Angelou's poetry demands music that's as deep in scope and as varied in styles. Like Shakespeare, her poetry is completely original and universal. Like Shakespeare, it's soul-stirring for people of all races and backgrounds. Like Shakespeare, it soars when sung. Finally, I believe there's something about the strings in these compositions, something indescribable, that especially connects with Dr. Angelou's humanity. 

Excerpts have been performed by members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Riverside Chamber Players in Roswell Georgia, as well as soloists from the Alvin Ailey Dance Company.  In 2019, it was featured at the Writers' Grove at Goodspeed Opera House.  In 2023, a concert was performed at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery in New York, to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.

Ray Leslee

Contact: 646.209.9906      www.rayleslee.com      E: rayleslee@yahoo.com