David Leisner is an extraordinarily versatile musician with a multi-faceted career as a guitarist, composer and teacher. “Among the finest guitarists of all time”, according to American Record Guide, Leisner is a featured recording artist for the Azica label, with 9 highly acclaimed CDs. Other recordings are on the Naxos, Telarc and Koch labels, with a concert DVD published by Mel Bay. Upcoming releases are recordings of 19th-century music for Azica and Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin with baritone Michael Kelly on the Bright Shiny Things label. Leisner's concerts have taken him around North America, Europe, Asia and Australasia. An innovative three-concert series at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall included the first all-Bach guitar recital in New York’s history, and he is currently Artistic Director of Guitar Plus, a New York series devoted to chamber music with the guitar. He is also a regular performer at many chamber music festivals around the US. Celebrated for expanding the guitar repertoire, David Leisner has premiered and commissioned works by many important composers, including David Del Tredici, Virgil Thomson, Ned Rorem, Philip Glass, Richard Rodney Bennett, Peter Sculthorpe and Osvaldo Golijov, while spearheading the revival of neglected 19th-century composers J.K. Mertz and Wenzeslaus Matiegka.
Mr. Leisner is also a highly respected composer noted for the emotional and dramatic power of his music. Fanfare magazine described it as “rich in invention and melody, emotionally direct, and beautiful”. His music has been performed worldwide by eminent singers, instrumentalists, chamber ensembles and orchestras. An extensive discography includes the all-Leisner Cedille CD, Acrobats, performed by the Cavatina Duo, and his compositions are published mostly by Theodore Presser Co. A new recording on the Azica label, Letter to the World, features his music for voice and instruments. His numerous commissions include Medanales Morning (a consortium commission) for guitar orchestra, Das Wunderbare Wesen for baritone Wolfgang Holzmair and solo cello, A Timeless Procession for Holzmair and string quartet, Vision of Orpheus for the St. Lawrence Quartet and Leisner, Battlefield Requiem for cellist Laurence Lesser and the New England Conservatory Percussion Ensemble. His latest commission, a guitar concerto for Pepe Romero, will be premiered in August 2023 at the Hamptons Music Festival with the New American Sinfonietta and conductor Michael Palmer.
A distinguished teacher as well, Leisner has taught at the New England Conservatory and is currently on the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music. He is also author of the widely-praised book, Playing with Ease, published by Oxford University Press.