{{Short description|American guitarist and composer}} {{Infobox artist | name = David Leisner | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|12|22}} | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, United States | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = | known_for = Guitar, composing, writing, teaching | education = Wesleyan University | movement = | style = Classical, contemporary | spouse = Ralph Jackson | website = [http://davidleisner.com/ David Leisner] | patrons = | awards = }}
'''David Leisner''' (born December 22, 1953) is an American classical guitarist, composer and teacher whose activities include recording, arranging and writing about music.<ref name="Cooper97">Cooper, Colin. "Journey of Discovery: David Leisner Talks to Colin Cooper," ''Classical Guitar'', June 1997, cover, p. 11–17.</ref><ref name="Cmiel16">Cmiel, Scott. [https://www.sfcv.org/articles/review/guitarist-david-leisner-shines-imaginative-wide-ranging-recital "Guitarist David Leisner Shines in Imaginative, Wide-Ranging Recital,"] ''San Francisco Classical Voice'', October 4, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="Traviss14">Traviss, Guy. [https://classicalguitarmagazine.com/david-leisner-a-rare-victory-over-focal-dystonia-injuries-recovery-guitar/ "David Leisner discusses his most recent disc, ''Favorites'',"] ''Classical Guitar'', February 2014, cover, p. 11–16. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref> 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.<ref name="Kozinn97">Kozinn, Allan. [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/14/arts/a-guitarist-s-return-contd.html?searchResultPosition=5 "A Guitarist's Return, Contd.,"] ''The New York Times'', May 14, 1997. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="Dyer91"/> 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.<ref name="Cmiel16"/><ref name="Dyer91">Dyer, Richard. "Leisner returns with vigor and virtuosity," ''The Boston Globe'', October 24, 1991.</ref><ref name="Ericson79">Ericson, Raymond. [https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/09/archives/music-debuts-in-review-brioso-quintet-youngsters-from-juilliard.html?searchResultPosition=2 "Debuts in Review: David Leisner, Guitarist, Also Composes and Sings,"] ''The New York Times'', December 9, 1979. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="Kozinn84">Kozinn, Allan. "David Leisner: Expanding the Classical Repertoire," ''Guitar Player'', October 1984, p. 61–64.</ref><ref name="Bavaro15">Bavaro, Joshua. "Interview with David Leisner and David Del Tredici," ''Soundboard'', Vol. 40, No. 4, 2015, p. 28–33.</ref> ''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."<ref name="Keaton12">Keaton, Kenneth. ''Favorites'', ''American Record Guide'', January/February 2012.</ref>
Leisner lives in New York City with Ralph Jackson, his husband and partner since 1981.<ref name="Beaudoin02">Beaudoin, Stephen Marc. "My rock, my soulmate," ''Bay Windows'', October 31, 2002, p. 26.</ref> He is a professor at the Manhattan School of Music.<ref name="Jackson17">Jackson, Blair. [https://classicalguitarmagazine.com/david-leisner-a-rare-victory-over-focal-dystonia-injuries-recovery-guitar/ "David Leisner: A Rare Victory Over Focal Dystonia,"] ''Classical Guitar'', April 13, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="MSM">Manhattan School of Music. [https://www.msmnyc.edu/faculty/david-leisner/ David Leisner], Faculty. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref>
==Early life and career== Leisner was born on December 22, 1953 in Los Angeles, California.<ref name="Grove">''Grove Dictionary of American Music''. "David Leisner," 2001.</ref> After beginning with the violin, he turned to the guitar and folk music, studied flamenco and took up classical music in his teens.<ref name="Kozinn84"/><ref name="Anstead96">Anstead, Alicia. "Guitarist has recovered use of hand after illness," ''Bangor Daily News'', November 12, 1996.</ref><ref name="Rockwell01">Rockwell, Cynthia. "Musician heal thyself," ''Wesleyan'', Summer 2001.</ref> 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.<ref name="Hall04">Hall, Macer. "David Leisner," ''Classical Guitar'', February 2004, cover, p. 11–16. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="Cooper97"/><ref name="Traviss14"/> 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.<ref name="Traviss14"/><ref name="Cooper97"/><ref name="Verdery07">Verdery, Ben. "David Leisner Interviewed by Ben Verdery," ''Soundboard'', Vol. 33, No. 1–2, 2007, p. 84–91.</ref>
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.<ref name="Kozinn84"/><ref name="Rockwell01"/><ref name="Leisner82">Leisner, David. "Memoirs of a Café Guitarist," ''Soundboard'', Spring 1982.</ref> 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.<ref name="Cooper97"/><ref name="Kassner89">Kassner, Eli. [https://guitarsocietyoftoronto.com/the-guitar-society-of-toronto-by-eli-kassner/ "The Guitar Society of Toronto,"] ''Guitar Canada'', Spring 1989. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="Casper84">''Star-Tribune'' (Casper, WY). "Guitarist to perform tonight," April 14, 1984, p. A-3.</ref> He made his New York debut at Merkin Hall in 1979.<ref name="Grove"/><ref name="Rockwell01"/> 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.<ref name="Ericson79"/>
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.<ref name="Kozinn84"/><ref name="Buell81">Buell, Richard. "Leisner shows taste and skill," ''The Boston Globe'', February 5, 1981.</ref><ref name="Starr81">Starr, Mark. "''Mertz/Giuliani: David Leisner''," ''American Record Guide'', November 1981, p. 36–37.</ref> Other writers placed him as "among the most innovative" of a new crop of "young American guitar virtuosos."<ref name="McInerney82">McInerney, John. "David Leisner, guitar," ''Musical America'', September 1982, p. 22.</ref><ref name="Buell81"/><ref name="Henry83">Henry, Derrick. "Guitarist David Leisner understands," ''The Boston Globe'', October 27, 1983.</ref>
===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.<ref name="Cooper97"/><ref name="Oestreich96">Oestreich James R. [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/27/arts/in-music-as-well-as-sports-injuries-can-end-a-career.html?searchResultPosition=8 "In Music as Well as Sports, Injuries Can End a Career,"] ''The New York Times'', August 27, 1996. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="Lehman94">Lehman, Carol. "An interview with David Leisner," ''Guitar Review'', Summer 1994.</ref> 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.<ref name="Rosenberg93">Rosenberg, Donald. "Guitarist beats hand problem to return to stage," ''The Cleveland Plain Dealer'', March 23, 1993.</ref><ref name="Oestreich96"/> ''Boston Globe'' critic Richard Dyer called his first full-evening performance in Jordan Hall "accomplished and moving" with vigor, dexterity and "virtuosity aplenty."<ref name="Dyer91"/>
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.<ref name="Oestreich96"/><ref name="Lehman94"/><ref name="Rosenberg97">Rosenberg, Donald. "Classical guitarist captures passion," ''The Cleveland Plain Dealer'', April 8, 1997.</ref> 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.<ref name="Kozinn97"/> ''Guitar Review'''s Rose Augustine deemed the Bach concert a convincing and "triumphant reappearance" with rare depth of feeling.<ref name="Augustine96">Augustine, Rose L. "David Leisner, Weill Recital Hall," ''Guitar Review'', Fall 1996.</ref>
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''.<ref name="Oestreich12">Oestreich James R. [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/arts/music/dystonia-which-struck-glenn-gould-and-other-musicians.html?searchResultPosition=11 "A Disorder That Stops the Music,"] ''The New York Times'', March 13, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="Leisner14">Leisner, David. "Playing with Large Muscles," ''Soundboard'', Vol. 40, No. 2, p. 8–12.</ref><ref name="Jackson17"/><ref name="Leisner18">Leisner, David. [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/playing-with-ease-9780190693312?q=leisner&lang=en&cc=us ''Playing with Ease''], New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. {{ISBN|9780190693312}}. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref> 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.<ref name="Leisner18"/><ref name="OUP">Oxford University Press. [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/playing-with-ease-9780190693312?q=leisner&lang=en&cc=us# David Leisner], Author Information. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref>
==Music and critical reception== Leisner is as recognized for his artistic breadth as for the virtuosity of his playing.<ref name="Keaton12"/><ref name="Dyer94">Dyer, Richard. "A musical personality finds his voice in guitar," ''The Boston Globe'', October 25, 1994.</ref> 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.<ref name="Hall04"/><ref name="Verdery07"/> Richard Dyer characterized Leisner as a "serious, exploratory and imaginative musician and composer who happened to play the guitar as well."<ref name="Dyer91"/> 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."<ref name="Gallagher08">Gallagher, Ian. "David Leisner, ''Self-Portrait''," ''Guitar Review'', 2008.</ref>
Critics have identified a "pedagogic but unpompous" approach to repertoire in Leisner's career,<ref name="Garcia03">Garcia, Gerald. "David Leisner, Royal Academy of London," ''Classical Guitar'', September 2003.</ref> distinguished by discoveries of overlooked composers, creative takes on classics,<ref name="Ricat01">Ricat, Kristoffer. "David Leisner, Review," ''Guitar Review'', No. 122, 2001.</ref> and commissions and introductions of important new works.<ref name="Kozinn84"/><ref name="Rosenberg02">Rosenberg, Donald. "Guitarist's artistry deepens through perseverance," ''The Cleveland Plain Dealer'', April 16, 2002.</ref><ref name="Kunze23">Kunze, Al. "David Leisner with Michael Kelly, baritone: Die Schöne Müllerin," ''Soundboard'', Summer 2023, p. 63.</ref><ref name="Bavaro15"/> His efforts led a revival of two 19th-century composer-guitarists, Johann Kaspar Mertz and Wenzeslaus Matiegka.<ref name="Kozinn84"/><ref name="Ericson79"/><ref name="Cooper97"/><ref name="Lehman94"/> 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.<ref name="Hall04"/><ref name="Rosenberg02"/><ref name="Kozinn84"/><ref name="McInerney82"/><ref name="Kozinn97"/><ref name="Ruhe04">Ruhe, Pierre. "ASO shows subtle depths of Argentine compositions," ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', February 21, 2004.</ref><ref name="MSM2">Manhattan School of Music. [https://www.msmnyc.edu/news/catching-up-with-msm-guitar-faculty-member-david-leisner-new-recordings-a-solo-concert-commissions-and-student-successes/ "Catching up with MSM guitar faculty member David Leisner,"], News, March 8, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref>
===Performing=== Critics characterize Leisner's playing for its blending of control and dexterity with deep expressivity, color, intimacy and spontaneity.<ref name="Garcia03"/><ref name="Long92">Long, Richard. "A Report on the 1992 Guitar New Orleans," ''Soundboard'', 1992.</ref><ref name="Rosenberg97"/><ref name="Tosone16">Tosone, Jim. "Three Anniversaries," ''Classical Guitar'', Fall 2016, p. 89.</ref> 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."<ref name="Gilardino09">Gilardino, Angelo. "Review of ''Matiegka, the Beethoven of the Guitar''," ''Suonare'', November 2009.</ref> 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."<ref name="Cmiel16"/><ref name="Woodward95">Woodward, Josef. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-09-ca-40383-story.html "Guitarist Leisner Offers Varied Program,"] ''The New York Times'', March 9, 1995. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="Garcia03"/><ref name="Rosenberg97"/> His Ginastera rendering has been described as "controlled abandon,"<ref name="Tosone16"/> "majestic and playful, with effortless rhythmic drive,"<ref name="Garcia03"/> and "an exhilarating display of artistic intelligence and control."<ref name="Rosenberg97"/>
Leisner has performed with cellist Zuill Bailey,<ref name="Marks16">Marks, John. [https://thetannhausergate.com/index.php/2016/04/04/david-leisner-zuill-bailey-arpeggione/ "David Leisner & Zuill Bailey: Arpeggione,"] ''The Tannhauser Gate'', April 4, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref> flutists Tara O'Connor and Eugenia Zukerman,<ref name="NYCCGS17">New York City Classical Guitar Society. [https://nyccgs.com/guitar-plus-2017/ "Serenades and Premieres with David Leisner and Friends,"] 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref> violinists Ida Kavafian and Mark Peskanov, vocalists Michael Kelly, Rufus Müller, Kurt Ollmann, Lucy Shelton and Sanford Sylvan,<ref name="Kunze23"/><ref name="Schweitzer13">Schweitzer, Vivien. [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/arts/music/david-leisner-and-rufus-muller-at-symphony-space.html?searchResultPosition=1 "An Exploration of the Curious Case of Benjamin Britten,"] ''The New York Times'', October 22, 2013. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref> and the St. Lawrence,<ref name="Smith01">Smith, Craig. "Leisner and Golijov: impressive musical journeys," ''The New Mexican'', May 15, 2001, p. B-3.</ref> Ensō and Vermeer string quartets, among others.<ref name="Cooper97"/><ref name="MSM"/>
====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.<ref name="Kozinn84b">Kozinn, Allan. [https://books.google.com/books?id=yscIAQAAMAAJ ''The Guitar: The History, the Music, the Players''], New York: Morrow, 1984. Retrieved March 19, 2024.</ref> Along with Leisner's publishing efforts, it helped to establish the composer's significance, distinctive romantic personality and melodic gifts through works ''American Record Guide'' described as "fascinatingly and superbly crafted" and performed with "conviction, sensitivity and complete technical assurance."<ref name="Starr81"/><ref name="Cooper97"/> For ''JS Bach (Works for Solo Guitar)'' (1999), Leisner arranged some of Bach's lute, cello and flute works, embellishing the repeats freely, as Bach would have done, according to the journal ''Andante''.<ref name="Gerber01">Gerber, Leslie. "Bach Transcriptions for Guitar," ''Andante'', June 2001.</ref> Reviews described it as "some of the most stimulating Bach of recent years"<ref name="Gerber01"/> and "an accurate interpretation in pursuit of a fluid expressive naturalness."<ref name="Guitart00">''Guitart International''. "J.S. Bach," Review, March 2000.</ref>
With ''Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Complete Solo Guitar Works'' (2000), Leisner made one of the first recordings of the composer's recently discovered original 1928 manuscript for his "Twelve Etudes."<ref name="Distler00">Distler, Jed. ''''Heitor Villa-Lobos''," ''Classics Today'', 2000,</ref> Breaking with convention, he brought out the work's lush melodies, rhythmic interplay and nuance rather than approach it as a showcase for dexterity and speed.<ref name="Ricat01"/><ref name="Levy01">Levy, Adam. "David Leisner: Rediscovering Villa-Lobos," ''Guitar Player'', July 2001, p. 45–46.</ref> Reviews contended that the recording offered startling new insights, making "a persuasive case for the composer's first thoughts [and] a valuable addition to the guitar catalog."<ref name="Distler00"/><ref name="Ricat01"/> Leisner returned to the 19th century with ''Le Romantique: Music of Mertz and Schubert'' (2004) and ''Matiegka, the Beethoven of the Guitar'' (2009).<ref name="Rosenberg04">Rosenberg, Donald. "''Mertz/Schubert: La Romantique''," ''Gramophone'', January 2004.</ref><ref name="Crowe09">Crowe, Julia. "Letter from New York," ''Classical Guitar'', March 2009, p. 57–58.</ref> Like his work on Mertz, the latter recording advocated for Matiegka, another overlooked guitar composer, as highly inventive and central to the guitar repertoire of his era through assertive, elegant interpretations.<ref name="Crowe09"/><ref name="Gilardino09"/><ref name="Keaton09">Keaton, Kenneth. ''''Matiegka''," ''American Record Guide'', July/August 2009.</ref>
With ''Music of the Human Spirit'' (2002), Leisner turned to contemporary work—by Ginastera, Glass, Rorem, Sculthorpe, Harrison, Poulenc and Richard Winslow—chosen for its rebalancing of heart, mind and spirit over the purely cerebral.<ref name="Beaudoin02"/><ref name="Rings03">Rings, Steven. "''Music of the Human Spirit''," ''American Record Guide'', March/April 2003.</ref> ''Favorites'' (2012) was a kind of summation of the guitar repertoire, mixing daunting "pinnacle" works (Britten's "Nocturnal," Bach's Chaconne and Paganini's "Grand Sonata") with lighter, under-recognized character pieces by Alexander Ivanov-Kramskoi.<ref name="Traviss14"/><ref name="Keaton12"/>
On ''Facts of Life'' (2015), Leisner placed Bach’s "Lute Suite BWV 997" between contemporary works: the 35-minute, four-movement title track he commissioned from David Del Tredici and the surreal, kaleidoscopic "Fish Tale," commissioned for flutist Eugenia Zukerman and him, by Osvaldo Golijov.<ref name="Fowles15">Fowles, Paul. [https://classicalguitarmagazine.com/a-mix-of-bach-and-contemporary-works-on-david-leisners-facts-of-life/ "A Mix of Bach and Contemporary Works on David Leisner's ''Facts of Life'',"] ''Classical Guitar'', 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref> ''American Record Guide'' predicted that Del Tredici's piece, symphonic in scope, with a sonata-like opener, lively fugue, an "achingly beautiful" slow movement, and flamenco finale, would become a become a seminal guitar work.<ref name="Keaton15">Keaton, Kenneth. ''''Facts of Life''," ''American Record Guide'', July/August 2015, p. 191–92.</ref><ref name="Bavaro15"/>
''Arpeggione'' (2016) was a cello and guitar collaboration, with cellist Zuill Bailey.<ref name="Manheim">Manheim, James. [https://www.allmusic.com/album/arpeggione-mw0002910339 "Arpeggione: David Leisner & Zuill Bailey,"] April 4, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="Marks16"/> ''Allmusic'' described Leisner's arrangements—of 19th-century works by Schubert (Arpeggione Sonata) and Falla, among others—as intelligent, direct musical solutions yielding warmly songful (Bailey) and beautifully understated (Leisner) playing.<ref name="Manheim"/> In his arrangement of Schubert's song cycle, ''Die Schöne Müllerin'' (2022, with baritone Michael Kelly), Leisner eschewed the literal in favor of capturing the piece's essence.<ref name="Kunze23"/> Reviews distinguished the treatment from prior recordings by its intimate, emotional quality and emphasis on the music's folk song roots; ''American Record Guide'' called Leisner's clear and flexible accompaniment "riveting, with many arresting touches."<ref name="Moore23">Moore, R. "Schubert: ''Die Schone Mullerin''," ''American Record Guide'', March/April 2023, p. 98.</ref><ref name="Forsling22">Forsling, Göran. [https://www.musicweb-international.com/Classrev/2022/Nov/Schubert-mullerin-BSTC0175.htm "Die schöne Müllerin,"] ''MusicWeb International'', November 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="Textura23">''Textura''. [https://www.textura.org/archives/k/kellyleisner_dieschonemullerin.htm "Michael Kelly & David Leisner: Franz Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin,"] Reviews. Retrieved November 3, 2021.</ref>
===Composing=== Critics distinguish Leisner's compositions for their emotional and dramatic power, openness to diverse musical forms, idioms, instruments and inspirations, and "performability," a quality sometimes lacking in non-players' works.<ref name="Minahan87">Minahan, John. "Passacaglia and Toccata for Guitar," ''Guitar Review'', Winter 1987, p. 37–38.</ref><ref name="Verdery07"/><ref name="Traviss14"/><ref name="Cooper97"/> He has written works for a wide range of contexts, most notably chamber music with and without guitar, and music for solo guitar, voice with various instruments, and orchestra.
The recording ''Acrobats: Music of David Leisner'' (2007), by the Cavatina Duo, features works written for the flute and guitar, including one with added clarinet and one with cello. Two of these works have received wide attention. The first, "Dances in the Madhouse" (1982), was inspired by a lithograph by painter George Bellows depicting four groups of asylum residents dancing.<ref name="Kozinn84"/> A suite in four movements—tango, waltz, ballad and samba—it is marked by imaginative shifts in mood and character, humor and spontaneity.<ref name="Hale94">Hale, David. "Sometimes inspiration for music comes from the strangest places," ''The Fresno Bee'', February 18, 1994.</ref><ref name="Bert87">Bert, Alison. "Dances in the Madhouse," ''Guitar Review'', Summer 1987, p. 39–40.</ref><ref name="Gallagher08"/> The second, "Acrobats" (2002), is a three-movement piece that Allan Kozinn called, "a sometimes eerie, sometimes lively fantasy that draws fully on the coloristic aspects of both [its] instruments."<ref name="Kozinn05">Kozinn, Allan. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/arts/music/mixing-two-guitarists-and-a-flutist-for-a-prize-with-a-price.html?searchResultPosition=3 "Mixing Two Guitarists and a Flutist, for a Prize With a Price,"] ''The New York Times'', April 22, 2005. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref> Inspired by a Nathan Englander story in which a group of World War II-era Jews evade the concentration camps by chance when they board a train of circus performers, it begins at a moment of immediacy where the story ends, when the escapees must perform to maintain their cover.<ref name="Kozinn05"/><ref name="Hall04"/><ref name="Gallagher08"/> Two other key chamber works employ guitar and string quartet: "Vision of Orpheus" (2000) and "Love Dreams of the Exile" (2015, with flute).<ref name="Smith01"/> The five-movement former piece explored its myth's cycle of loss, death and rebirth, ending in quiet despair.<ref name="Smith01"/> The latter, in three movements, offers what ''Fanfare'' called "stream-of consciousness meditations" on Sephardic folk songs that "deal with love: unrequited, rejected, or betrayed."<ref name="Grames16">Grames, Ronald E. "Sephardic Journey," ''Fanfare'', July–August 2016.</ref><ref name="Hall04"/><ref name="Rockwell01"/>
''Guitar Review'' described Leisner's solo guitar compositions as emotionally "dizzying" and exuding "creativity and expression [with] an almost improvisatory quality."<ref name="Gallagher08"/> His recording ''Self-Portrait'' (2008) features many of these works, among them "Freedom Fantasies"—inventive, bluesy interpretations of three American spirituals<ref name="Garcia03"/><ref name="Dyer94"/>—and the three-movement "Nel Mezzo: Sonata."<ref name="Marsh09">Marsh, Steve. "David Leisner – Classics and Discoveries," ''Classical Guitar'', April 2009.</ref><ref name="Crowe09"/> Leisner composed this restless and searching work (whose Dante-derived title translates as "in the middle") during the mid-life crisis prompted by his hand injury.<ref name="Panting05">Panting, Tim. "David Leisner," ''Classical Guitar'', June 2005.</ref><ref name="Rosenberg02"/><ref name="Salathe06">Salathe, Phil. "Guitarist Plays Old And New With Mastery," ''Hartford Courant'', November 20, 2006.</ref> Critics likened its stark contrasts, obsessive character and emotional journey through conflict, poignancy and defiance to works by Hector Berlioz.<ref name="Salathe06"/><ref name="Rosenberg02"/>
Leisner has composed many works for voice and varied instruments.<ref name="Dyer96">Dyer, Richard. "Leisner's art-song ambitions have uneven results," ''The Boston Globe'', October 22, 1996.</ref><ref name="Kandell94">Kandell, Leslie. "David Leisner, guitar," ''American Record Guide'', July/August 1994.</ref><ref name="Kozinn84"/> Richard Dyer characterized these pieces by their good literary judgment, imagination and taste in "taking poems from disparate sources and putting them into cycles that trace emotional progress and develop dramatic shape."<ref name="Dyer96"/> Some of them are collected on Leisner's recording, ''Letter to the World'' (2022). "Confiding" (1985–86, originally for soprano and guitar, here for soprano and piano) is a ten-song cycle with folk-inflected harmonies that features poems by Emily Brontë and Emily Dickinson tracing the rise and fall of an intimate relationship before a turn to supra-human elements.<ref name="Kandell94"/> "Of Darkness and Light" (2002, for tenor, violin, oboe and piano) sets five Wendell Berry poems from the Vietnam War era about darkness and light to music that moves through thoughtfulness, passion and anxiety to beauty; "Das Wunderbare Wesen" (2011, baritone and cello, for Wolfgang Holzmair) sets five German translations of Lao Tsu’s ''Tao Te Ching'' in songs expressing the mystical spirituality of Taoism.<ref name="Salomon22">Salomon, Katy. [https://www.musicalamerica.com/news/newsstory.cfm?archived=0&storyID=51316&categoryID=5 "Composer David Leisner Releases Letter to the World,"], ''Musical America Worldwide'', October 4, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="MSM2"/> An early work, "Simple Songs" (1982, for baritone and guitar) placed six poems by Emily Dickinson covering a range of emotions and explored various contrapuntal and rhythmic complexities.<ref name="McKinnon23">McKinnon, Arlo. "Critic's Choice," ''Opera News'', May 2023.</ref>
Leisner has also written several works for orchestra. "Embrace of Peace" (1991, commissioned by the Fairfield Orchestra), inspired by a painting by George Tooker, was described as a "striving, passionate and hopeful" tone poem whose imaginative combinations of instruments and dissonances set up warm and satisfying resolutions.<ref name="Hupper94">Hupper, Joel H. "Review/Music," ''Westport News'', May 27, 1994.</ref> "Wayfaring" (2022, guitar and full orchestra) is a three-movement work written for guitarist Pepe Romero, based on the folk song/spiritual, "Wayfaring Stranger."<ref name="MSM2"/> Its emotional tapestry moves through a restless opening and dissonant middle to a simpler, jubilant final movement.<ref name="MAW">''Musical America Worldwide''. [https://www.musicalamerica.com/news/newsstory.cfm?archived=0&storyID=53572&categoryID=5 "Pepe Romero to debut guitar concerto by David Leisner at the Hamptons Festival of Music,"], News, August 28, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="MSM2"/>
==Writing, teaching and other professional activities== In addition to writing ''Playing With Ease'' (2018), Leisner has published articles for ''Classical Guitar'', ''Musical America'' and ''Soundboard'', among others, on the need for the reintegration of performance and composition,<ref name="Leisner89">Leisner, David. "The Trouble with New Music," ''Musical America'', May 1989, p.24–26.</ref> musical technique,<ref name="Leisner78">Leisner, David. "Breathing Life Into Music," ''Soundboard'', May 1978, p. 47–51.</ref><ref name="Leisner14"/> performance anxiety,<ref name="Leisner95">Leisner, David. "Six Golden Rules for Conquering Performance Anxiety," ''American String Teacher'', Spring 1995, p. 49–51.</ref> and contemporary composers<ref name="Leisner03b">Leisner, David. "An Obituary for Lou Harrison," ''Boston Classical Guitar Society Newsletter'', June/August 2003, p. 2.</ref> and compositions.<ref name="Leisner77">Leisner, David. "Three Perspectives on Henze's ''Drei Tentos''," ''Soundboard'', May 1977, p. 36–38.</ref><ref name="Leisner03">Leisner, David. "Why the 1928 Manuscript? A re-examination of Villa-Lobo's ''Twelve Études''," Part One, ''Classical Guitar'', December 2003, p. 32–36.</ref>
Leisner is a masterclass teacher and member of the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, where he has served since 1993, including as chair of the guitar department.<ref name="Hall04"/><ref name="MSM"/> He taught at the New England Conservatory from 1980–2003.<ref name="OUP"/><ref name="Rosenberg93"/>
From 2008 to 2019, he was the artistic director of Guitar Plus, a New York concert series devoted to guitar chamber music and diverse programming.<ref name="Crowe09"/><ref name="NYCCGS">New York City Classical Guitar Society. [https://nyccgs.com/guitar-plus-echoes-across-time/ "Guitar Plus: Echoes Across Time,"] 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="TNY">''The New Yorker''. [https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/classical-music/guitar-plus-4-27 "Guitar Plus 4-27."] Retrieved February 13, 2024.</ref><ref name="CG19">''Classical Guitar''. [https://classicalguitarmagazine.com/david-leisner-to-celebrate-65th-birthday-with-special-ny-concert/ "David Leisner to Celebrate 65th Birthday with Special NY Concert."] News, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2024.</ref>
==Recording list== ===Selected performance recordings=== *''The Viennese Guitar'', Titanic (1980) *''JS Bach (Works for Solo Guitar)'', Azica (2000) *''Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Complete Solo Guitar Works'', Azica (2000) *''Music of Hovhaness'' ("Spirit of Trees"), with Yolanda Kondonassis, harp, Telarc (2000) *''Music of the Human Spirit'', Azica (2002) *''Le Romantique: Music of Mertz and Schubert'', Azica (2003) *''Alan Hovhaness '' ("Guitar Concerto”, op. 325), Naxos (2006) *''Matiegka, the Beethoven of the Guitar'', Azica (2009) *''David Leisner: Classics & Discoveries'', MelBay DVD (2010) *''Favorites'', Azica (2012) *''Facts of Life'', Azica (2015) *''Arpeggione'', with Zuill Bailey, cello, Azica (2016) *''Die Schöne Müllerin'', with Michael Kelly, baritone, Bright Shiny Things (2022)
=== Selected composition recordings === *''Self-Portrait'', featuring Leisner, Azica (2006) *''Acrobats: Music of David Leisner'', featuring the Cavatina Duo, Cedille Records (2007) *''Love Dreams of the Exile'', on ''Sephardic Journey'', featuring the Cavatina Duo and Avalon String Quartet, Cedille (2016) *''Eve’s Diary'', featuring the Olson/De Cari Duo, CD Baby (2018) *''Letter to the World'', featuring Katherine Whyte, Andrew Fuchs, Michael Kelly, Sarah Whitney, Scott Bartucca, Raman Ramikrishnan, Lenore Fishman Davis, Dimitri Dover and Leisner, Azica (2022)
==Selected compositions== *"Dances in the Madhouse" (violin/flute, guitar), 1982 *"Confiding" (high voice, piano/medium voice, piano/soprano, guitar), 1985–86 *"Embrace of Peace" (orchestra), 1991 *"Nel Mezzo: Sonata" (solo guitar), 1998 *"Vision of Orpheus" (guitar, string quartet), 2000 *"Acrobats" (flute, guitar), 2002 *"Of Darkness and Light" (tenor, violin, oboe, piano), 2002 *"Three James Tate Songs" (medium voice, guitar), 2007 *"West Wind" (tenor, guitar), 2011 *"Das Wunderbare Wesen" (baritone, cello), 2011 *"Eve's Diary" (soprano, guitar), 2015 *"Love Dreams of the Exile" (flute, guitar, string quartet), 2015 *"Pranayama" (orchestra), 2016 *"Medanales Morning" (guitar orchestra), 2019 *"Wayfaring" (guitar, orchestra), 2022
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://davidleisner.com/ David Leisner official website] *[https://www.presser.com/david-leisner?p=2 David Leisner], Theodore Presser Co. *[https://www.msmnyc.edu/faculty/david-leisner/ David Leisner], Manhattan School of Music *[https://global.oup.com/academic/product/playing-with-ease-9780190693312?q=leisner&lang=en&cc=us ''Playing with Ease: A Healthy Approach to Guitar Technique''], David Leisner
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Leisner, David}} Category:1953 births Category:Living people Category:American male guitarists Category:American classical guitarists Category:21st-century American composers Category:20th-century American composers Category:Composers for the classical guitar Category:Composers from New York City Category:Manhattan School of Music faculty Category:Musicians with dystonia Category:American musicians with disabilities Category:20th-century American male composers