Born in Montréal, Québec, Leslie Uyeda is a composer, pianist, and conductor.

Leslie studied piano with the late Dorothy Morton at McGill University and with William Aide at the University of Manitoba. She has played chamber music and accompanied singers since her student days and continues to perform her own music with her colleagues. 

During 25 years in opera, Leslie worked as a coach, pianist, chorus music director and conductor with Vancouver Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, L’Opéra de Montreal, Manitoba Opera, Opera Hamilton, the Banff Centre, and the Chautauqua Institute of Music in New York.

Leslie Uyeda has composed over fifty songs to poetry by Canadian poet Lorna Crozier, and four song cycles to the poetry of Japanese-Canadian poet Joy Kogawa. She has composed two operas - When the Sun Comes Out, with librettist Rachel Rose, and Silence, with librettist Darrin Hagen, which will receive its world premiere in 2025 in Edmonton, Alberta. Her first monographed recording was released by Redshift Records in July 2024 titled Leslie Uyeda — The Sex Lives of Vegetables.

Leslie Uyeda is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre and is a member of SOCAN, the Canadian League of Composers, and the Association of Canadian Women Composers. Her principal publisher was The Avondale Press (AvP), now held within the Canadian Music Centre.

Leslie lives very happily with her family in Vancouver. She loves reading, swimming, practising Qigong, walking her dog Puff, watching great British TV, and cheering for Le Club de Hockey Canadien – the Montréal Canadiens.