Leah Claiborne, D.M.A. promotes diversity in the arts by championing piano music by Black composers in her performances, research, and teaching. Dr. Claiborne’s scholarship has gained international reach through her invited writings for music education magazines in the United Kingdom, while her book Expanding the Repertoire: Piano Music by Black Composers (Hal Leonard) received the 2024 Best Piano Education Founder’s Award Publication, celebrated at London’s Royal Albert Hall. As an authority on piano literature, she was hired by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) to advise on increasing representation of Black composers in their global piano syllabus. Her forthcoming publications with Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press further cement her scholarly impact.

In 2022, she established the first Representation and Advocacy column (formerly Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) for American Music Teacher, where her article “What If’s: Intentional Inclusion of Black Composers in Music Education” became the featured cover article of the February/March issue. As Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Frances Clark Center and co-chair of the DEI track for the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, she has published two online courses: Unsung Heroes: 20 Pieces by Black Composers to Use in Your Studio Now and Piano Pedagogy Through the Lens of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. As a  frequent keynote speaker, she has addressed MTNA state conferences nationwide and delivered the 2025 keynote for the National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM), solidifying her leadership in the field.

Founder of Ebony Music Inc., her nonprofit dedicated to promoting Black classical pianists and composers, Dr. Claiborne sponsors the Ebony Prize at MTNA’s national piano competition which created representation by Black composers at the National

level for the first time in the organization’s history. In 2024, Ebony Music Inc. was awarded the Sphinx Venture Fund to record and promote piano music by Black composers. She and nine other Black pianists recorded over 122 works and her first album, Arise and Shine: Piano Music by Black composers for Kids was featured on BBC radio. She has given numerous concerts and masterclasses across the country including Manhattan School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, and Curtis Institute of Music.

Dr. Claiborne earned her Bachelor of Music from the Manhattan School of Music (recipient of the Josephine Whitmore Graduation Award) and her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan, where she made history as the first pianist awarded the Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship. She received early promotion with tenure at the University of the District of Columbia, where she serves as Coordinator of Keyboard Studies while teaching History of African American Music. A Yamaha Artist, she continues to shape the future of classical music through performance, education, and advocacy.