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Leonard easter in memoriam

Finland Center has lost a dear friend. About 25 years ago, as a group of us Finnish expats had decided to form a nonprofit for the Finnish community in New York City, I was referred to Leonard by Quaker House, for whom he had done some work. As our board needed to approve this move, we gathered at my home in Greenwich Village to meet him in person. As we conversed and were getting to know each other, Lenny (as he said to call him) revealed that prior to becoming a nonprofit lawyer, he had practiced entertainment law. This had come naturally to him, because he had first studied to become a professional musician. Then he sat down at my piano and played Sibelius’ Finlandia by heart. Of course, we were all in awe and moved to tears. You could say he played his way into our hearts.

He quickly helped us get our 501c3 status and remained on our advisory board for several years and jokingly referred to himself as an “honorary Finn”. When the idea of a common physical Finnish center in New York City fizzled after years of trying, unsuccessfully, to find funding for it, a group of us decided to establish The Kota Alliance for gender equity and women’s empowerment. Lenny helped with the paperwork to establish this organization too. He even served as board treasurer one year, but mostly as an Advisory Board member stepping in with sage advice whenever we needed it, through all the ups and downs, helping to steer our decisions in the right direction. He was also generous in that after the first couple of years, we never got a bill from him, which meant that our relationship went from just professional to friendship. If a conversation started with a concrete question on my part, after it was handled, we could linger discussing current affairs, our families, or anything under the sun, usually over a glass of white wine, his signature drink, at some favorite downtown hangout. I will miss those sessions, and his warm spirit, wonderful intellect, wisdom and sense of humor. Our sincere condolences to his wife Nina, his children and other loved ones.

Jaana Rehnstrom

Obituary provided by his family here:

Leonard Duane Easter 75, of Kingston, New York, died October 5, 2026, surrounded by his family.

Born May 8, 1951, in Lorain, Ohio, Leonard was the son of the late Hortense and William Easter. A gifted musician, attorney, educator, and lifelong advocate for the arts, he lived a life distinguished by intellectual curiosity, generosity, and service to others.

Leonard graduated cum laude from Harvard College in 1973, where he became the first Black musical director of the Harvard Krokodiloes and served as Assistant Conductor of the Harvard Glee Club. During his Harvard years, he performed under the direction of and collaborated with composer Leonard Bernstein.

A 1976 graduate of Columbia Law School, Leonard enjoyed a legal and academic career spanning five decades. He taught at Columbia Law School, Yale Law School, and The New School, where he served for more than 25 years.

As Director of Legal Services for Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and throughout his private practice, Leonard championed thousands of artists and helped establish and advise numerous nonprofit organizations. His work spanned music, dance, theater, literature, and the visual arts, including involvement with Outward Visions, Danse Mirage Foundation, Looking Glass Productions of New York, Readers International, The Kota Alliance, and Finland Center Foundation. His expertise helped artists and cultural organizations build lasting foundations for their work.

A longtime Kingston resident, Leonard also devoted many years to the YMCA of Kingston & Ulster County, serving as Chairman and Vice Chairman of its Board of Directors, Trustee, and spin instructor.

Leonard shared his life with his beloved wife, Nina Ries, and together they raised five children, Arun, Rumi, Hope, Lena, and Faith. He is also survived by his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth; his grandchildren, Mason, Donya, Tufan, and Daryaw; his great-grandchild, Iylla; his brothers, William Jr., Tony, Julian, and Adrian; his sisters, Myra, Monicaand Noreen; and many beloved nieces and nephews. His family was at the center of his life andhis devotion to them extended far beyond anything that could be measured by professional accomplishments.

Leonard lived to the beat of his own drum, and the many lives he touched will carry his melodies forward.

In lieu of flowers, donations to nonprofit organizations supporting the arts, education, or community are encouraged.

The Music! The Castle! The Memories!

My name is Erik Eino Ochsner, and I am an orchestra conductor who works in classical, opera and film-with-live orchestra formats. My mother’s family is from Viipuri, and she was born in Helsinki. I am now a proud dual citizen of Finland and the USA. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, an actress named Soili Poutiainen performed on stage, in films and commercials, and she was as an evening television hostess introducing the program lineup. She is my mother.

Growing up, I studied piano and flute, I sang, I also worked a lot in the theater doing technical work, building sets and designing lights. For three summers, I volunteered backstage at the Indianapolis Shakespeare Festival often running lights and sound, and I popped popcorn for the snack table, and then I ran to call PLACES!! My mom felt it was very important for her two sons to spend one summer in Finland alone, with mom and dad, to establish our own roots with Finland. My brother spent his summer going to bars and messing around. That wasn’t my thing!

In 1986, while on a family vacation in Finland, we visited Savonlinna, and saw a rehearsal of Aida while taking a tour of Olavinlinna. Fireworks went off in my head and heart. I told my mom, wow, if I could somehow work here for a summer, THAT would be dream summer in Finland. And it came true. My mom contacted an old director friend, who knew the director of the festival! In 1987, I was allowed to be an “Assistentti” which meant I went to all rehearsals and performances and assisted anyone and everyone! First, it started out like any intern, getting some copies made, getting someone coffee, then backstage, Oh hey, I forgot something on the other side of the stage, which meant I had to crawl through cannon holes, down ladders, across a courtyard, up another ladder, through another cannon hole to fetch my assignment – and I LOVED IT. It was an incredible summer with performances of Aida, Kuningas lähtee Ranskaan (The King Goes Forth to France), Taikahuilu (The Magic Flute). The Estonian National Opera was the visiting guest company with performances of Carmen and Khovanshchina. At the end of the summer, the combined forces performed Mahler Symphony No. 8 “Symphony of a Thousand.”

My Life Was Changed Period.

In the early 2000s, via social media, I reconnected with my host family in Savonlinna (Leila, Keith and Pia), and also my best friend (Janne) from that summer, who continued to work in the theater, eventually as the Head of Production for Aleksanterin Teatteri in Helsinki. We stayed in touch, shared stories, shared memories, and I have visited them several times over the years. While visiting Finland in 2024, Janne mentioned to me that he would be designing the lights for a performance of Viimeiset kiusaukset (The Last Temptations) and asked me if I would come – and I immediately said OF COURSE/TOTTA KAI!

Fast forward to July-August 2025, I spent 14 days in Finland and drove 1260 miles! I saw 2 operas in Savonlinna, several friends and family, had sauna in 4 different locations including one night off the coast of Porvoo while staying in an AirBnB on an island reachable only by boat!

Being back in Savonlinna was magical, bringing back so many memories. Great to connect with so many friends and my “chosen family.” The Kokkonen opera was very impressive, I’m glad I saw it. Incredible performances. I, personally, found the story line a little hard to follow, but nonetheless in opera, we must often suspend disbelief! Purcell’s Fairy Queen is defined as a masque, not an opera. It’s a series of arias which are strung together with a loosely fitting story line. It’s really up to the director of the opera to be creative and make a convincing story, and in Savonlinna, this was a huge success. It was performed by a visiting company from Spain with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra. Both performances were very well attended and incredibly moving – the sets, lights, costumes, orchestra, singers, and of course sitting in the middle of a 550 year old castle, Olavinlinna was the “cherry on the cake.”

I am personally looking forward to next August 2026 when I will be in Kuopio to conduct two performances of Amadeus in Concert, film with live orchestra. You will see the entire film projected over the symphony orchestra, the sound effects, dialogue and in this case the soloists voices will all be heard from the original track, but we will be performing all of the orchestral music, along with chorus and solo piano LIVE synchronized to the film!