Since he began playing piano at the age of 7, Oisin Leopold ’20 has made music a part of his everyday life.

“I love jazz, it’s probably my favorite genre of music.”

Oisin composes his own music and draws inspiration from artists such as Mayer Hawthorne, and Miles Davis.

“I don’t know [why I started composing music], I liked listening to music and I wanted to be able to make it myself.

Though Oisin’s primary instruments are piano and cello, he also enjoys playing the guitar and the bass guitar.

Leopold currently plays the piano and bass in the show choir combo, and sings in the City High Choir. In addition, he plays the piano in a band consisting of  himself, Peter Stoltz, Oscar Ihrig, and Cameron Hornbeck.

The four formed the band to jam together for fun in February of 2016, but decided they would practice to play at the Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference. The quartet has continued to practice together, but they haven’t played at any recent events.

“We all like jazz music, but we play anything that sounds cool.” Oisin said

The quartet tries to meet once a week for band practice, but they find it hard to make time with their busy schedules.

When they first formed their band, their goal was just to have fun making music together, rather than become super well know. Over time, Oisin’s ambition for music drove the band to continue to practice and improve so that they can become better known. 

“I want to pursue a career in music, and I’d like to go to music school.” Oisin said.