Jump to content

Jonathan Leshnoff

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Moogbear (talk | contribs) at 20:44, 20 January 2023 (→Early life and education). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Jonathan Leshnoff (born September 8, 1973) is an American classical music composer and pedagogue.

Early life and education

Born on September 8th, 1973, Jonathan Leshnoff was born to Susan and Steven Leshnoff in New Brunswick, New Jersey. His mother, Susan Leshnoff is an artist, and his father, Stephen Leshnoff, is an engineer. For his undergraduate studies, Leshnoff attended both Johns Hopkins University and the Peabody Conservatory concurrently, earning two bachelor's degrees in Anthropology and Music Composition, respectively. He went on to receive a Master’s of Music from the Peabody Conservatory, and attended the University of Maryland to receive his Doctorate of Music. As a child, Leshnoff was raised observing Conservative Judaism. Through his time at Johns Hopkins, he delved deeper into his beliefs and transitioned into following Orthodox Judaism. [1]

Career

Leshnoff lives in Baltimore, Maryland. His works have been performed and commissioned by over 80 orchestras worldwide, including commissions from Carnegie Hall, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, among many others. Leshnoff's compositions have also been premiered by classical music's most celebrated soloists, including Gil Shaham, Roberto Díaz, Johannes Moser, Manuel Barrueco, and Joyce Yang.[citation needed]

Notable commissions include his Clarinet Concerto, which the Philadelphia Orchestra's Principal Clarinet Ricardo Morales premiered with the orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin in April 2016; his Zohar oratorio, which Carnegie Hall and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra co-commissioned and presented with conductor Robert Spano in April 2016; his Violin Concerto No. 2, which the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s concertmaster Alexander Kerr premiered on Maestro Jaap van Zweden's final concerts as music director of the orchestra in May 2018; his Piano Concerto, which soloist Joyce Yang premiered with the Kansas City Symphony and Music Director Michael Stern in November 2019, and his major work Of Thee I Sing, which the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and Music Director Alexander Mickelthwaite premiered in February 2020, commissioned to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.[citation needed]

There are seven albums exclusively featuring Leshnoff's music, including several discs on the Naxos American Classics label and a 2016 recording of two major Leshnoff works with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In May 2020, Reference Recordings released a disc featuring the world premiere performance of Leshnoff's Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and conductor Manfred Honeck, which made it to the top of the classical Billboard charts.

While a large percentage of his work is orchestral, Leshnoff has composed for many small ensembles and concert bands. Band performances of Leshnoff's works include the United States Marine Band, which included a transcription of Leshnoff's Clarinet Concerto on its 2017 Arioso recording, the United States Navy Band, and several university wind ensembles. In 2022, the Towson University Symphonic Band premiered his piece, Carpe Diem. Leshnoff is a professor of music at Towson University in Towson, Maryland, where he has been teaching music theory and contemporary music history since 2003.[2]

Awards and recognition

In late 2019, the Nashville Symphony's album—released in May 2019— featuring his works, including his fourth symphony commissioned by the symphony in collaboration with the Violins of Hope, was nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Compendium.[3] In an independent study, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra found Leshnoff to be among the top ten most performed living composers internationally (tied for 7th) among American orchestras in the 2015–16 season.

Selected works

Leshnoff's catalog includes four symphonies, fourteen concerti, and five oratorios.[4]

  • Symphony No. 1: Forgotten Chants and Refrains (2004)
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 (2005)
  • Double Concerto for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra (2007)
  • Rush (2008)
  • Starburst (2010)
  • Concerto for Two Percussionists and Orchestra (2011)[5]
  • Hope: An Oratorio (2011)
  • Cello Concerto (2012)
  • Symphony No. 2: Innerspace (2014)
  • Zohar Oratorio (2015)[6]
  • Chamber Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (2015)
  • Symphony No. 3 (2015)[7]
  • Clarinet Concerto (2015)
  • Symphony No. 4, "Heichalos" (2017)[8]
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 (2017)
  • Piano Concerto (2019)[9]

Discography

As of 2021, eleven major recordings of Leshnoff's work have been released:[10]

References

  1. ^ "Transcending The Music". Baltimore Jewish Times. December 16, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  2. ^ "Jonathan Leshnoff". Towson University. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  3. ^ Feiler, Alan; Merwin, Ted (November 25, 2019). "Baltimore-Based Composer Jonathan Leshnoff Nominated for a Grammy". JMORE. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 28, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ Garcia, Jacob Adam (April 7, 2020). "A Comprehensive Study of Three Compositions for Percussion by Composer Jonathan Leshnoff, "Run" (2003), "…without a chance" (2003), and "Concerto for Two Percussionists and Orchestra" (2011), including a Structural and Aesthetic Analysis". UNT Digital Library. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  6. ^ "Composer Jonathan Leshnoff brings music, mysticism to Strathmore". Washington Jewish Week. March 16, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  7. ^ Neas, Patrick (May 15, 2016). "Composer Jonathan Leshnoff explores the depths of war in world premiere symphony". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  8. ^ Unger, Mike (January 10, 1995). "Fall 2019 – TU Magazine". Towson University. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  9. ^ "KC STUDIO: Kansas City Symphony Presents World Premiere of Jonathan Leshnoff's Piano Concerto". Kansas City Symphony. November 8, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  10. ^ "Listen". Jonathan Leshnoff. Retrieved December 2, 2021.

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Jonathan_Leshnoff&oldid=1134814552"