 David Leisner
David Leisner is one of the top American classical guitarists. His unique playing style and innovative programming have inspired audiences and critics around the world. The first international recognition came in 1975 when he won 2nd Prize in the Toronto International Guitar Competition, the first one of its kind in North America. Then, in 1981, he won the Silver Medal at the Geneva International Guitar Competition. Since then he has performed in solo and chamber music recitals on stage, radio and TV throughout the United States and in Europe and Canada. Leisner has also appeared with a number of fine orchestras, including the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the New York Chamber Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra of New England. A recent highlight was the US Premiere of Peter Sculthorpe's Nourlangie with the Australian Chamber Orchestra on their US tour in 1993.
A champion of expanding the guitar repertoire, Leisner has introduced new works, many of them written for him, as well as rediscovered old ones. Amongst composers whose works he has premiered are Virgil Thomson Ned Rorem, Philip Glass, Richard Rodney Bennett, Peter Sculthorpe, Marilyn Ziffrin and Richard Winslow. He was also a pioneer in the rediscovery of Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856), whose music he recorded on The Viennese Guitar for the Titanic label and also edited for publication by Theodore Presser Co. The latter recently released his new arrangement for guitar of the Bach unaccompanied flute Partita , and Etcetera Records recently issued his performance of Ned Rorem's Romeo and Juliet with flutist Fenwick Smith.
A remarkable aspect of Leisner's career was the hand injury which caused him to withdraw from the concert stage in 1984 and the subsequent spectacular return to the stage in 1991. Having cleverly devised ways of refingering, he has astonished both critics and audiences with his new playing facility. Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe said, "It would take an expert in guitar technique to tell you what Leisner can no longer do; he certainly doesn't let you hear anything he can't do", and Soundboard magazine reported, "Leisner is back, and without any artistic or technical compromises."
Also an established composer, he has many works published by Theodore Presser Co., G. Schirmer and Columbia Music, including his well-known Dances in the Madhouse in both its original version for violin and guitar and as an arrangement for orchestra. Recent commissions include Embrace of Peace for the Fairfield Orchestra, Clouds and Waves for children's chorus and string orchestra for the Diller-Quaile School of Music, and Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam for the Saturday Brass Quintet on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Fairfield University. Grants have been awarded by the American Music Center, Alice M. Ditson Fund, the New England Foundation for the Arts and Meet the Composer. Works currently available on CD are on the Newport Classic, Centaur and Athena labels. All-Leisner concerts have been presented at the University of Arizona, Jordan Hall in Boston and Merkin Hall in New York, and his works have been performed worldwide by such eminent artists as Sanford Sylvan, Paul Sperry, Juliana Gondek, Benjamin Verdery, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, the Saturday Brass Quintet, the Springfield (both Massachusetts and Missouri) and Amarillo Symphony Orchestras, the Fairfield (CT) Orchestra and Fresno Philharmonic.
 A widely sought-after teacher as well, Leisner is currently serving on the faculties of the New England Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music. His lively master classes have been given in such institutions as Yale University, U.S.C., Cleveland and Peabody Institutes of Music and the San Francisco and Cincinnati Conservatories. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and studied guitar with John Duarte, David Starobin and Angelo Gilardino, composition with Richard Winslow, Virgil Thomson, Charles Turner and David Del Tredici.
(revised October 1994)
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