David Leisner Popular Books

David Leisner Biography & Facts

David Leisner (born December 22, 1953) is an American classical guitarist, composer and teacher whose activities include recording, arranging and writing about music. He has performed as a concert guitarist and as soloist with orchestras at international music festivals and venues including Carnegie Hall and the 92nd St. Y in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, Royce Hall in Los Angeles and the Guitar Foundation of America International Festival. His performances, compositions, recordings and research are credited with expanding the guitar repertoire through advocacy for neglected composers and music, newly commissioned works and original arrangements. American Record Guide critic Kenneth Keaton wrote, "Leisner is among the finest guitarists performing … He has a probing intellect, finding insights in music that most others miss, and delivering them with a virtuoso technique." Leisner lives in New York City with Ralph Jackson, his husband and partner since 1981. He is a professor at the Manhattan School of Music. Early life and career Leisner was born on December 22, 1953 in Los Angeles, California. After beginning with the violin, he turned to the guitar and folk music, studied flamenco and took up classical music in his teens. He is largely self-taught as both a guitarist and composer, having majored in music at Wesleyan University but with an equal focus on liberal arts subjects. At various points he briefly studied guitar with John W. Duarte, David Starobin and Angelo Gilardino, composition with Richard Winslow (at Wesleyan), Virgil Thomson and Charles Turner, and orchestration with David Del Tredici. From 1976 to 1979, Leisner taught guitar at Amherst College. He moved to New York in 1979, building his reputation as a performer through competitions, recitals and local performances in restaurants. He tied for second place in the 1975 Toronto International Guitar Competition and won the Silver Medal at the 1981 Geneva International Guitar Competition—the first American finalist in the latter's history. He made his New York debut at Merkin Hall in 1979. A The New York Times review of the debut called him a "triple threat performer" for his guitar playing, composing and singing, while noting his adroit handling of "the contrapuntal intricacies" of Bach and the required "coloristic touches" for Britten and Albéniz on the guitar. Over the next five years, wrote critic Allan Kozinn, Leisner "established a reputation not only as an exceptionally talented classical performer but also as a kind of musical investigator" unearthing obscure works for the guitar repertoire. Other writers placed him as "among the most innovative" of a new crop of "young American guitar virtuosos." Focal dystonia and Playing with Ease In 1984 Leisner developed focal dystonia in his right (plucking) hand. Widely regarded as incurable, it kept him from performing professionally for roughly a decade. After an exhaustive and unsuccessful five-year search for a cure, he retooled his playing by primarily using his thumb and index finger and began performing again publicly in 1991. Boston Globe critic Richard Dyer called his first full-evening performance in Jordan Hall "accomplished and moving" with vigor, dexterity and "virtuosity aplenty." Continuing to rethink his technique, Leisner experimented with involving the larger muscle groups in the upper arm and shoulder and regained normal use of his fingers one by one, returning to 100% capability by 1996. During the 1996-97 season, he performed a challenging series of three concerts at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall—an all-Bach program, a contemporary music survey, and music of the 19th-century. Guitar Review's Rose Augustine deemed the Bach concert a convincing and "triumphant reappearance" with rare depth of feeling. Leisner has since helped cure a range of instrumentalists suffering from focal dystonia and other repetitive-stress injuries with the approach covered in his book on ergonomic technique, Playing With Ease. It discusses basic anatomy of movement, posture, alignment, the relief of tension, and practice and concert preparation tips, as well as his ideas about large-muscle engagement that cured him of focal dystonia. Music and critical reception Leisner is as recognized for his artistic breadth as for the virtuosity of his playing. As a composer, his wide-ranging influences include Britten, Stravinsky, Bartok, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Philip Glass, among others, and more broadly, pop, folk and jazz music. Richard Dyer characterized Leisner as a "serious, exploratory and imaginative musician and composer who happened to play the guitar as well." Ian Gallagher of Guitar Review noted his propensity "to eschew the intellect for the soul" in compositions that made "a strong argument for the viability of contemporary tonal music and for the fusion of performer and composer in an age of specialization." Critics have identified a "pedagogic but unpompous" approach to repertoire in Leisner's career, distinguished by discoveries of overlooked composers, creative takes on classics, and commissions and introductions of important new works. His efforts led a revival of two 19th-century composer-guitarists, Johann Kaspar Mertz and Wenzeslaus Matiegka. In addition to arrangements of Bach, Schubert and Glass, he has premiered works by Richard Rodney Bennett, Chester Biscardi, David Del Tredici, Osvaldo Golijov, Pierre Jalbert, Laura Kaminsky, Bun-Ching Lam, João Luiz, Ned Rorem, Peter Sculthorpe, Virgil Thomson and Randall Woolf. Performing Critics characterize Leisner's playing for its blending of control and dexterity with deep expressivity, color, intimacy and spontaneity. Composer and musicologist Angelo Gilardino stated, "what sets Leisner apart is the refinement of his phrasing, which he imbues with clear, convincing and original intentions. He does so in an elegant manner … His playing is authoritative, without trying to appear so." Reviews of Leisner's solo recitals have highlighted, among others, his performances of Ginastera's "Guitar Sonata," Villa-Lobos's "Twelve Etudes," Bach's Chaconne and Lute suites, and his own "Nel Mezzo: Sonata." His Ginastera rendering has been described as "controlled abandon," "majestic and playful, with effortless rhythmic drive," and "an exhilarating display of artistic intelligence and control." Leisner has performed with cellist Zuill Bailey, flutists Tara O'Connor and Eugenia Zukerman, violinists Ida Kavafian and Mark Peskanov, vocalists Michael Kelly, Rufus Müller, Kurt Ollmann, Lucy Shelton and Sanford Sylvan, and the St. Lawrence, Ensō and Vermeer string quartets, among others. Performance recordings Leisner's first solo recording delved into two lesser-known guitar composers of the 19th-century. The Viennese Guitar (1980) was split between pieces by Johann Kaspar Mertz and Mauro Giuliani and was the first recording to feature Mertz's work. Along with Leisner's publishing efforts, it helped to establish the comp.... Discover the David Leisner popular books. Find the top 100 most popular David Leisner books.