Since arriving in Colorado in the fall of 2015, violinist Leena Waite has frequently performed with the Colorado Symphony and Opera Colorado. She performs chamber music with local musicians through Friends of Chamber Music’s museum and school concerts, Highlands Ranch Mansion Chamber Series, and is grateful to return for another season at Front Range Chamber Players.  She plays frequently at Montview Boulevard Presbyeterian Church, as a soloist and in ensembles in a variety of genres - classical, folk and jazz - and as a guest with the Westminster choir. She has also appeared as a guest artist with Boulder Chorale, Denver Choir League, Kantorei and the Ghost Ranch Chorale. 

Prior to 2015, Leena lived and worked in the NYC metro area, performing and teaching in a wide variety of settings. As a studio musician, she can be heard on the PBS film score No Job For a Woman: The Women Who Fought to Report WWII, composed by her husband, Adam Waite, and on albums with the following artists: NYC chamber pop band alice., Grammy-nominated trombonist Alan Ferber, violinist Jenny Scheinman, Broadway star Mara Davi, her brother Adam Gilbert, and Broadway Cares: Carols for a Cure.  On-stage, she served as section violinist for the Syracuse Symphony and Lyrica Chamber Orchestras. She was also named a Teaching Artist for The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Education and Community Partnership Program in Camden, NJ.

Leena received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Violin Performance (with a jazz minor) from Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied privately with violinist Andres Cardenes for the entirety of her undergraduate program.  She then went on to earn a Masters of Music and Masters in Improvisation from the University of Michigan, where she studied with violinist Andrew Berofsky and jazz musicians Geri Allen, Ed Sarath, and Ellen Rowe.  She also holds a Masters of Arts in Ministry from Drew Theological School, Madison, NJ. 

Leena also spent the past 15 years in nonprofit work, mainly as a Program & Volunteer Director for food insecurity & hunger solutions at America’s Grow-a-Row and as a national consultant on social purpose real estate solutions for nonprofits at The Nonprofit Centers Network. She also loves to camp, hike, run, paddle board, swim, ski, garden and cook. Leena currently resides in Denver with her husband, Adam, son, Ethan, and pandemic puppy, Reba.