
drummer | MUSIC DIRECTOR | producer | EDUCATOR
Leo Freire is a Brazilian born, New York City based drummer, music director, producer, and educator. His touring experience has included shows in some of the most prestigious festivals and venues throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. These experiences have resulted in a growing expertise for creating and running fully redundant performance backing tracks and for integrating pads, triggers, and other electronic instruments for live show setups.
He has worked and collaborated with artists live and/or in-studio including:
Wheatus (multi-platinum with "Teenage Dirtbag")
Flatbush Zombies
Darryl “DMC” McDaniels (Run DMC)
Andrew W.K.
Viktor Király (Hungary No. 2 Top 40)
Kate Nauta (Transformer 2)
Fly By Midnight
Hypodive (Fieldhouse/ BMG)
January Jane (BMG)
Isa Marina
My World (BMG)
Mike Doughty (Soul Coughing)
Leo continues to maintain a prolific live touring schedule. He was featured in the official US Open 2024 commercial, also performing live in the tournament's opening ceremony. Furthermore, Leo is a founding member, touring musician, and playback tech for Let's Sing Taylor, a sold out, national theater tribute show for the music of Taylor Swift. Since 2023, the production has played over 150 shows all around the United States, with two international stops in United Arab Emirates and Nicaragua, and selling over 200,000 tickets.
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With Wheatus, he also completed multiple tours of UK/ Ireland, Europe, South Africa, and the USA throughout 7 years. Highlights have included sold-out performances at some of the world's biggest selling venues such as the O2 Arena London, Manchester Arena, and Wembley Arena.
Leo has amassed a social media following of over 13 K on instagram, with captivating performance and educational videos. His content has been reposted and shared by notable accounts, including Brian May, Roger Taylor, and the official Queen social media accounts to more than 10 million followers.
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As a composer, producer, and studio musician, Leo's work has been extensively showcased. He was credited a recording engineer role, in addition to drumming and singing on the 20th anniversary re-release of Wheatus' iconic debut album - which premiered with an April 2020 write-up on Rolling Stone magazine. Furthermore, Leo was featured as a composer and performer on the original soundtrack of the 2017 feature documentary "Black and White Stripes: The Juventus Story" (No. 1 in the Italian Box Office). His versatility was again highlighted in his selection as the only drummer to appear on the Flatbush Zombies album release
"Vacation in Hell" - which reached no. 9 in the Billboard US Hip Hop/R&B Albums.
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Leo is also a passionate educator, serving as a faculty member of the acclaimed Fiorello LaGuardia High School of the Arts, where he served as Director of Music Technology for the 2022/2023 school year. Leo also has an active and engaging private lessons studio, working with students of all ages and teaching drums, piano, voice, and music production. He completed his Masters of Arts in K-12 Music Education at Hunter College in 2015, being the recipient of the Agnes Duffy graduation prize for academic merit. As an undergraduate student, he graduated from the Macaulay Honors Program at Hunter College and was the sole recipient of the Libbie Van Arsdale Memorial Prize for outstanding achievement in music.

