David Leisner

Two recordings, just released, include works by David Leisner. Guitarist Robert Nathanson commissioned two chamber works from Leisner in the last couple of years, and they are both included on his Duo Sureño album, called Continuum, on the Teal Music label. The pieces are: Singing to the Stars for soprano, violin, saxophone and two guitars, and Tsunami for soprano saxophone and guitar, with soprano Nancy King, saxophonist Laurent Estoppey, violinist…

“David Leisner’s performance of his own arrangements of the Schubert piano parts is extremely successful. Leisner very sensibly does not attempt a literal transcription of the piano parts but rather provides the essence of the original accompaniment as needed to support the voice…My ‘go to’ performance of this work is a version done by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with Gerald Moore. Now at the risk of being accused of hyperbole, I will…

American Record Guide, in its March/April 2023 issue, found much to admire in Michael Kelly’s and David Leisner’s recorded interpretation of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin on the Bright Shiny Things label. “Both artists perform commendably in this very intimate reading, which sets it apart strikingly from all the many recordings of it I’ve reviewed. Kelly uses his light lyric voice effectively with prudently applied rubato and lovely soft singing. His…

Pepe Romero will premiere the guitar concerto, Wayfaring, by David Leisner on Sunday, Sept. 3 at 3:00 pm at the Hamptons Festival of Music, at the LTV Studio 3 in Wainscott, NY. Michael Palmer conducts the New American Sinfonietta in the World Premiere of this 22-minute, 3-movement work for guitar and full orchestra, commissioned for Pepe Romero by Brian Hays.

Textura.org posted a rave review of David Leisner’s new vocal chamber music album in their May issue. “Letter to the World emphasizes his formidable talents as a composer of vocal chamber music…The sixty-four-minute collection makes a compelling argument for Leisner as a composer of art songs and vocal suites…Having premiered works by David Del Tredici, Virgil Thomson, Philip Glass, Peter Sculthorpe, Osvaldo Golijov, and others, Leisner has been justly celebrated for…

Critic Arlo McKinnon listed Leisner’s new album of his vocal compositions as a “CRITIC’S CHOICE” in Opera News. The review is noteworthy and deserves to be printed here in its entirety: “David Leisner is in the midst of a long and successful career as a composer and guitarist with numerous recordings. As a composer, he’s predominantly known for his vocal music. Letter to the World, Leisner’s most recent release, is devoted to…

Michael Kelly’s and David Leisner’s Schubert performance earned this accolade from reviewer David Shengold of Opera News: “Leisner himself plays wonderfully on this recording, and I don’t doubt that his at times inventive arrangement may tempt light lyric baritones to explore traversing this iconic cycle with a guitarist in tow. His approach is clearly a close collaboration with Kelly in terms of phrasing and a close attention to dynamics. The more one…

The Canadian publication, The Whole Note, just published this review of Michael Kelly’s and David Leisner’s Die Schöne Müllerin recording on the Bright Shiny Things label: “Leisner’s clever adaptation of the accompaniment and his clear and fluent playing provide a transparent, yet supportive framework for Kelly’s nuanced interpretation. The sparser textures produced by the guitar allow Kelly to really shine, especially in the tender, quieter moments, without compromising the effect…

A beautifully written and insightful review by Kathleen Roland Silverstein, just discovered, of Leisner’s two Selected Songs publications for voice and piano (Theodore Presser Co.) from the March/April 2021 Journal of Singing: “The composer has chosen his texts and illuminated them with great care, whether poems by the more illustrious and well-known Dickinson, Yeats, or Whitman, or by contemporary poets like American Elissa Ely. His songs graphically describe the arc, summit,…

On April 20 at 7:30 pm, David Leisner will premiere 5 new works that he commissioned during the pandemic. The composers, Pierre Jalbert, Bun Ching Lam, Chester Biscardi, Laura Kaminsky and João Luiz, will all be in attendance for the event, which takes place at the Morgan Library in New York, in the beautiful Gilder Lehrman Hall. The program also includes early 19th-century repertoire from Leisner’s latest solo album for…