David Leisner is a classical guitarist, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

 at the Manhattan School of Music

Manhattan School of Music

The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...

 and one of the leading authorities on focal dystonia

Focal dystonia

Focal dystonia is a neurological condition that affects a muscle or group of muscles in a part of the body and causes an involuntary muscular contraction or twisting...

, due to being impaired by the injury for 12 years and recovering through methods that he developed and now teaches his students.

Biography

David Leisner sprang onto the guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 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

Bạch

Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...

, Villa-Lobos, Mertz

Mertz

Mertz is the surname of:* Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim, , a German officer and a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany involved in the July 20 Plot against Adolf Hitler...

 and Schubert, contemporary composers and his own compositions. His recordings have drawn praise from musicians of all kinds and magazines worldwide.

As a composer, Leisner's works have been performed worldwide by such eminent artists as Sanford Sylvan, Paul Sperry, Robert Osborne

Robert Osborne

Robert Jolin Osborne is an American actor and film historian best known as the primary host for Turner Classic Movies, and previously a host of The Movie Channel.-Life and career:...

, Juliana Gondek, Susan Narucki, D'Anna Fortunato, Warren Jones, Eugenia Zukerman

Eugenia Zukerman

Eugenia Rich Zukerman is an American flutist, writer, and journalist. An internationally renowned flute virtuoso, Mrs Zukerman has been performing with major orchestras and at major music festivals internationally for more than three decades...

, Benjamin Verdery, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet

The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet consists of John Dearman, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant and Matthew Greif . They are known for using nylon string guitars to imitate a variety of instruments and effects....

, the Saturday Brass Quintet, the Eastman

Eastman

-People:* Carole Eastman , American screenwriter* Charles Eastman , Native American physician, writer, national lecturer and reformer* Crystal Eastman American lawyer, antimilitarist, feminist, socialist and journalist...

 and Oberlin

Oberlin

Oberlin may refer to:Places in the United States* Oberlin, Kansas* Oberlin, Louisiana* Oberlin, Ohio** Oberlin College** Oberlin ConservatoryPeople*Oberlin...

 Percussion Ensembles. He has also received grants from the Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...

 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

Manhattan School of Music

The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...

. He formerly taught at the New England Conservatory for 22 years. A graduate of Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

, he studied guitar with John Duarte, David Starobin and Angelo Gilardino and composition with Richard Winslow, Virgil Thomson

Virgil Thomson

Virgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...

, Charles Turner and David Del Tredici

David Del Tredici

David Del Tredici, born March 16, 1937 in Cloverdale, California, is an American composer. According to Del Tredici's website, Aaron Copland said David Del Tredici "is that rare find among composers — a creator with a truly original gift...

.

Research on Focal Dystonia

In the 1980s, David Leisner was disabled by focal dystonia, an injury that affected 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.

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 Kaspar Mertz

Johann Kaspar Mertz

Johann Kaspar Mertz was a Hungarian guitarist and composer.NOTE: THE ORIGINAL CREATOR OF THIS PAGE PLAGIARIZED THEIR MATERIAL. It has been copied and pasted from the Mel Bay website: http://www.melbay.com/authors.asp?author=749 I tried to report this problem to wikipedia, but they do not make it...

 (1806-1856), and he has recorded versions of the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...

 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."

External links

• Official site of David Leisner
• David Leisner at Theodore Presser
• Six Golden Rules for Conquering Performance Anxiety by David Leisner

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)
• Outdoor Shadows: Olson/De Cari Duo (Talking Cat Records)

Compositions

Solo Guitar:

• Nel Mezzo: Sonata for guitar (20’), 1998 (Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co.)
• Freedom Fantasies (19’), 1992 (Doberman-Yppan
  Doberman-Yppan
  Les Éditions Doberman-Yppan is a North American music publishing firm located in Saint-Nicolas, Quebec, Canada .-Notable Publications:*Prelude and Fugue by Marc-André Hamelin...
  
  )
• Four Pieces (15’), 1979, 1986 (Frederick Harris Music Co.
  Frederick Harris Music
  The Frederick Harris Music Co., Limited is a North American music publishing firm.Located in Toronto Ontario, The Frederick Harris Music Co., Limited has the largest catalogue of any Canadian print music publisher. Frederick Harris has supported the work of such renowned composers as Boris Berlin,...
  
  , 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)