David Leisner

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David Leisner is a musician who has had a prominent career as a classical guitarist, composer, and a teacher. He is a competition winner, a scholar, a performer and composer that has been heard around the world, a teacher at the Manhattan School of Music and one of the leading authorities on focal dystonia, the latter due to being impaired by the injury for 12 years and recovering through methods that he developed and now teaches his students.

Contents

[edit] Biography

David Leisner sprang onto the guitar scene with top prizes in the 1975 Toronto and 1981 Geneva International Guitar Competitions. As his performing career blossomed, Leisner suddenly became disabled by focal dystonia, interrupting his career for twelve years until he recovered on his own from methods that he developed from studying the physical aspects of playing the guitar. Since his comeback, he has completed major tours of Australia and New Zealand, as well as debuts and reappearances in Japan, the Philippines, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, the UK, Italy, Czech Republic, Greece, Puerto Rico and Mexico. He has also performed with the Atlanta Symphony, and on concert series in such notable venues as Boston's Jordan Hall and Gardner Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Spivey Hall in Atlanta, Royce Hall in Los Angeles, the Folly Theater in Kansas City, the St. Francis Auditorium in Santa Fe, and the Augustine Guitar Series in New York City.

Leisner's acclaimed CDs have included a range of music, including Bach, Villa-Lobos, Mertz and Schubert, contemporary composers and his own compositions. His recordings have drawn praise from musicians of all kinds and magazines world-wide.

As a composer, Leisner's works have been performed worldwide by such eminent artists as Sanford Sylvan, Paul Sperry, Robert Osborne, Juliana Gondek, Susan Narucki, D'Anna Fortunato, Warren Jones, Eugenia Zukerman, Benjamin Verdery, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, the Saturday Brass Quintet, the Eastman and Oberlin Percussion Ensembles. He has also received grants from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the American Music Center, the Alice M. Ditson Fund, the New England Foundation for the Arts, and Meet the Composer.

David Leisner is currently co-chairman of the guitar department at the Manhattan School of Music. He formerly taught at the New England Conservatory for 22 years. A graduate of Wesleyan University, he studied guitar with John Duarte, David Starobin and Angelo Gilardino and composition with Richard Winslow, Virgil Thomson, Charles Turner and David Del Tredici.

[edit] Research on Focal Dystonia

In the 1980s, David Leisner was disabled by focal dystonia, an injury that paralyzed his right hand when playing guitar. He sought the advice of medical professionals from western medicine to acupuncturists, but no one could heal his hand. Although during this period he became an important and respected personality in the composition world, he was unable to keep away from the stage. He began performing music utilizing only a few of the fingers on his right hand, and performed difficult works that dazzled audiences, most unaware that he was injured. Eventually, through his own personal study of the physical motions of playing guitar, he healed himself completely and now teaches his discoveries to students in masterclasses and private lessons.

[edit] Musical Research

Leisner has repeatedly made important contributions to the classical guitar world through his research and historical discoveries. He has been responsible for reviving the music of Johann Kasper Mertz (1806-1856), and he has recorded versions of the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos as displayed in its original manuscripts. Most recently, Leisner is championing the music of Wenzeslaus Matiegka (1773-1830), a 19th century composer that Leisner describes as the "Beethoven of the guitar."

[edit] External Links

[edit] References

  • Dickenson, J. Andrew: [1] "Re-Discovering Guitar", Urban Guitar, September 2006
  • Lehman, Carol: "An Interview with David Leisner", Guitar Review, Summer 1994
  • Leisner, David: "Six Golden Rules for Conquering Performance Anxiety", American String Teacher, Spring 1995
  • Cooper, Colin: "Journey of Discovery", Classical Guitar, June 1997

[edit] Discography

Solo Guitar:

  • Self-Portrait (Azica, 2006)
  • Le Romantique (Azica, 2003)
  • Villa-Lobos - The Complete Solo Guitar Works (Azica, 2000)
  • Bach: Cello and Lute Suites (Azica, 1998)
  • Music of the Human Spirit (Azica, 2002)

Chamber Music:

  • Music of Alan Hovhaness (Telarc, 2000)
  • Chamber Music of Daniel Pinkham
  • Chamber Music of Ned Rorem
  • Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival

Recordings of Leisner Compositions:

  • Dances in the Madhouse: Harris Coates Duo (Barking Dog Records)
  • Homages and Evocations: Pearl and Gray Guitar Duo (Dorian)
  • Haslop-Sanders Duo: Haslop-Sanders Duo (Centaur)
  • Bad Boy: Folkwang Guitarren Duo (Signum)

[edit] Compositions

Solo Guitar:

  • Nel Mezzo: Sonata for guitar (20’), 1998 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)
  • Freedom Fantasies (19’), 1992 (Dobermann-Yppan)
  • Four Pieces (15’), 1979, 1986 (Frederick Harris Music Co., The Benjamin Verdery Guitar Series, Vol. 1)
  • “Billy Boy” Variations" (4’), 1983 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)
  • Passacaglia and Toccata (6’), 1982 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)

Voice and Guitar:

  • Heaven's River (10'), soprano, 1991 (Dobermann-Yppan)
  • Five Songs of Devotion (16'), medium voice, 1989 (Columbia Music)
  • Confiding (30'), high voice, 1985-86 (Unpublished)
  • Outdoor Shadows (1l'), high voice, 1985 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)
  • Four Yiddish Songs (12’), medium (or high) voice, 1983 (Dobermann-Yppan)
  • Simple Songs (7'), medium voice, 1982 (AMP/G. Schirmer Music Publishers)

Orchestra

  • Embrace of Peace (14’) for orchestra (2222 4221 1perc str), 1991 (Unpublished)
  • Dances in the Madhouse (13’) for orchestra (2222 2200 1perc str), 1982, arranged for orchestra, 1989 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)
  • Clouds and Waves (Rabindranath Tagore) (6’) for young people’s chorus and young people’s string orchestra, 1993 (Unpublished)

Chamber Music with Guitar

  • Acrobats (13') for flute and guitar, 2002 (Dobermann-Yppan)
  • Vision of Orpheus (17') for guitar and string quartet, 2000 (Unpublished)
  • El Coco (The Bogeyman) (3') for flute and guitar, 1999 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)
  • Roaming (8’) for 3 guitars, 1994 (Dobermann-Yppan)
  • The Cat that Walked by Himself (22’) for 4 guitars, 1988 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)
  • Mirage (6’) for two guitars, 1987 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)
  • Extremes (13’) for flute, clarinet and guitar, 1987 (Doberman-Yppan)
  • Trittico (12’), for flute, cello and guitar, 1985 (Doberman-Yppan)
  • Nostalgia (5’), for violin/flute and guitar, 1985 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)
  • Sonata (16’) for violin and guitar, 1985 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)
  • Three Moons (17’) for cello and guitar, 1984 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)
  • Dances in the Madhouse (12’) for violin/flute and guitar, 1982 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)

Chamber Music

  • Bloom (9') for string quartet, 2005 (Unpublished)
  • A Timely Procession (9') for baritone and string quartet, 2004 (Unpublished)
  • Of Darkness and Light (10') for tenor, violin, oboe and piano, 2002 (Unpublished)
  • Battlefield Requiem (15’) for solo cello and percussion quartet, 1995 (Unpublished)
  • Ad majorem Dei gloriam (12’) for brass quintet (2 Bb tpt., hn., trb., tb.), 1992 (Unpublished)
  • On Jazz Terrain (13’) for flute, Bb clarinet, alto saxophone and piano, 1990 (Unpublished)
  • Candles in Mecca (23’) for violin, cello and piano, 1988 (Unpublished)

Voice and Piano

  • Confiding (30'), high voice (also available for medium), 1985-86 (Unpublished)
  • Local Lives (9'), mezzo-soprano or soprano, 1989 (Unpublished)
  • "O Love is the Crooked Thing" (15'), medium or low voice, 1980 (Unpublished)
  • The Survivor (4'), medium voice, 1993 (Unpublished)
  • To Sleep (9'), medium voice (also available for low), 1994 (Unpublished)
  • Chance Awakenings (9'), soprano, 2003 (Unpublished)
  • Fidelity (22'), tenor (or soprano) and baritone, 1996 (Unpublished)
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