David Leisner

Four world premiere recordings of David Leisner’s vocal chamber music compositions are featured on the newly released album, Letter to the World, on the Azica label. The album has music for soprano and piano, baritone and cello, baritone and guitar, and tenor, violin, oboe and piano. It includes poetry by Emily Dickinson, Emily Brontë, Elissa Ely, Gene Scaramellino, Lao Tzu (in German translations by Richard Wilhelm), and Wendell Berry. Available…

Baritone Michael Kelly and David Leisner have now released their performance of David’s guitar arrangement of Schubert’s beloved song cycle, Die Schöne Müllerin, on the Bright Shiny Things label. You can listen on Spotify and Apple, or download it or buy a CD from Amazon. If you don’t get the CD, you can follow along with the text translations and see notes, bios, etc. here: Schubert CD booklet

On October 14, Bright Shiny Things will release the recording of Franz Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin in David Leisner’s arrangement for baritone and guitar, with baritone, Michael Kelly and Leisner. This 20-song cycle is a landmark of the vocal repertoire and one of the most beloved works of all time. On November 18, Azica will release Letter to the World, an album of vocal chamber music by David Leisner. It…

David Leisner will premiere 5 short works that he commissioned from his friends, Pierre Jalbert, Laura Kaminsky, Chester Biscardi, Bun Ching Lam and João Luiz in the spring of 2023. The first performances will take place on April 20 at the Morgan Library in New York, in the wonderful Gilder Lehrman Hall, and on April 16 on the Chatter Series in Albuquerque, NM. The program will also include works from…

Pepe Romero has commissioned a guitar concerto from David Leisner. This work for guitar and orchestra will be premiered with conductor Michael Palmer in the late summer of 2023 at the new Hamptons Festival of Music in New York. David is very honored and excited to write the concerto this summer.

David Leisner has commissioned 5 composer friends for short solo guitar works. He is looking forward to including them in programs starting in 2023 and on a future album of commissioned works. The composers are Pierre Jalbert, Bun Ching Lam, Chester Biscardi, Laura Kaminsky and João Luiz. Click “Read More” to see composer photos.

On March 18, David Leisner’s 2009 album of solo guitar works by Wenzeslaus Matiegka (1773-1830) was digitally re-released. Due to a clerical error, this album had been unavailable in digital format for many years, but now it is available on Spotify and Apple. American Record Guide: “Leisner plays with the excellence we’ve come to expect. He is an assertive, sensitive, inventive, creative musician. He’s discovered some truly substantial music in…

This year will see the release of four albums by David Leisner. The first is on the Azica label, a digital re-release of David’s 2010 album of music by Wenzeslaus Matiegka (1773-1830), which until now only had limited availability. His latest solo album for Azica will be released in the fall, a recording of early 19th-century gems by Sor, Giuliani, Schulz, Regondi and Mertz. David’s arrangement of Schubert’s Die Schöne…

David Leisner has two new commissions to write this summer. One is a work for saxophone and guitar, commissioned by guitarist Robert Nathanson. The other is a guitar concerto, commissioned by a very important guitarist whose name will be revealed as soon as the contract is signed. Stay tuned for further details.

For the New York Guitar Festival’s online video series, Remembering Julian Bream, David Leisner contributed a much-praised performance of Mauro Giuliani’s La Risoluzione, op. 148, no. 1.  Watch here.