"David Leisner is among the finest guitarists currently performing - and, given that the level
of playing has never been higher, that means among the finest of all time," writes Ken
Keaton of the American Record Guide.  David's latest solo CD for Azica, Favorites "may
well be one of the top guitar discs for an Earth Time Capsule," reports Roger Cope of the
CVNC Online Arts Journal.  For the full review, click here.  The album contains 3 major
works that David has played for most of his life and feels especially close to: the Britten
Nocturnal, Bach Chaconne and Paganini Grand Sonata. The disc also includes 5 pieces by
the little-known Alexander Ivanov-Kramskoi, a 20th-century late Romantic composer in the
tradition of Tchaikovsky.  For more info, click here.
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Merion Music/Theodore Presser Co. recently released Labyrinths for solo guitar by David
Leisner.  South Florida Classical Review reported that Labyrinths signaled an ingenious
and arresting compositional voice". The work is in five movements, with the titles: Shimmer,
Shadow, Shiver, Shatter and Shelter.












Presser is in the process of publishing all of Leisner's unpublished works to date. Other
recent releases include:  Four Pieces (15') for solo guitar, Confiding (30'), a song cycle to
women's poems (mostly Emily Dickinson and Emily Bronte), available for high voice and
guitar or high voice and piano or medium voice and piano, "O Lovc is the Crooked Thing"
(15') for medium voice and piano, Fidelity (22') for tenor/soprano, baritone and piano,
Bloom (9') for string quartet, Vision of Orpheus (18') for guitar and string quartet, To Sleep
(10') for medium voice and piano, and Three James Tate Songs (9') for medium voice and
guitar. The music may be ordered through all normal sheet music suppliers, as well as at
Theodore Presser Co.
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Two especially laudatory reviews appeared online this summer. The Boston Musical
Intelligencer wrote after David's performance at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival,
"David Leisner is an amazing musician and prize of our culture.  His taste, poise and passion
bring out the best in the music he plays; attributes reflected in his compositions." Meanwhile,
reporting on David's performance in Miami, the South Florida Classical Review wrote,
"Bach's Lute Suite in A minor brought Leisner's most potent performance of the evening.  
Bach's refined introspection fits Leisner's consummate musicianship like a glove." The critic
then went on to describe the "flamboyant" performance of the Paganini Grand Sonata.  
Click here to read more.
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Naxos has just re-released a recording David made in the early 1990's of Ned Rorem's
Romeo and Juliet with flutist Fenwick Smith.  This recording was made when Leisner had
cured himself of focal dystonia and was only playing with two fingers!  For more info, click
here.









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Several videos of David's recent live performances have been posted on YouTube.  Two
stellar performances of the Bach Chaconne and a movement from the Sonata in b minor by
Wenzeslaus Matiegka came from the National Guitar Workshop.  They were filmed with a
hand-held iPhone 4 in an alternate air-conditioned space for a too-hot summer evening, so
the quality's not fabulous and the venue's not glamourous, but the performances make up
for it.  Click here for the Bach and click here for the Matiegka.

David has been enjoying his recent performances with tenor Will Ferguson.  These
YouTube excerpts show why:  Click here for "Bach" from Dominick Argento's Letters from
Composers, click here for Dowland's "Come Again", click here for Gershwin's "They Can't
Take That Away", and click here for Gershwin's Somebody Loves Me.
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David plans to record soon the 35-minute solo guitar piece he commissioned from one of
America's greatest composers, David Del Tredici and premiered with great success last year
in New York.  The 4-movement Facts of Life, will go on a disc for the Azica label which
will also include Bach's Lute Suite BWV 997 and Osvaldo Golijov's Fish Tale for flute and
guitar (along with the Del Tredici, another world premiere recording).














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Angelo Gilardino's intelligent, perceptive review of David Leisner's recent Matiegka CD
appeared in last November's issue of the Italian music magazine, Suonare.  Gilardino
reported:  "What sets David Leisner apart is the refinement of his phrasing, which he imbues
with clear, convincing and original intentions...His playing is authoritative, without trying to
appear so. And he succeeds marvelously, taking us through this entire recording without a
single dull moment."  For the full review, click here.  (Scroll down to "Complete reviews")
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iTunes now has all of David's solo CDs on the Azica label, as well as his Naxos recording of
the Hovhaness Concerto.  Click here for more info.  



Favorites CD photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco, Del Tredici photo by Ralph Jackson
Website content © David Leisner 2011.  All rights reserved.z
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