Leonard Lehrman

Last updated

Leonard Jordan Lehrman is an American composer who was born in Kansas, on August 20, 1949, and grew up in Roslyn, New York. Since August 3, 1999, he has resided in Valley Stream, New York. Since 1995 he has served as a part-time Reference Librarian at Oyster Bay-East Norwich Public Library.

Contents

His teachers included Lenore Anhalt, Elie Siegmeister, Olga Heifetz, the Guarneri Quartet, Elizabeth Korte, Earl Kim, Kyriena Siloti, Harry Levin, Nadia Boulanger, Jean-Jacques Painchaud, Leon Kirchner, David Del Tredici, James Yannatos, Karel Husa, William Austin, Robert Palmer, George Gibian, Tibor Kozma, Wolfgang Vacano, Donald Erb, and John Eaton. On July 31, 1978 he married Karen Shaw Campbell. They were divorced in November, 1986. On July 14, 2002 he married Helene Williams Spierman. They have collaborated on over 675 performances since March 1987, including 17 CDs and over 4000 videos on YouTube, with over 1,000,000 views to date.

He graduated cum laude from Harvard; received a master's degree and a doctorate in music composition from Cornell; a master's degree in library science from Long Island University and studied under a Fulbright scholarship in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. [1] His first original opera was the subject of a 2014 doctoral thesis by Jeremy Blackwood, posted at https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc700028/m2/1/high_res_d/dissertation.pdf

Life and career

Lehrman has composed 284 works to date, including 12 operas and 7 musicals. He composed also more than 400 vocal works. [2] He won the 2002 Sunrise/Sunset Competition of the Brookhaven Arts Council in 2002 for his setting of Abel Meeropol (Lewis Allan)'s poem "Conscience". Since 1973 he has worked as conductor, coach, pianist, composer, and/or translator for the Metropolitan Opera (assistant chorus master 1977–78), Bel Canto Opera, After Dinner Opera Company, Aviva Players, the Metropolitan Philharmonic Chorus, the Jewish Music Theater of Berlin, the Jewish People's Philharmonic Chorus, the Workmen's Circle Chorus, the Oceanside Chorale, the Blaue Jungs/Hanseaten Deern German Chorus of East Meadow, and the Bronx Opera. He edited The Marc Blitzstein Songbook (3v., Boosey & Hawkes 1999–2003), authored Marc Blitzstein: A Bio-Bibliography (Greenwood/Praeger, 2005), and co-authored Elie Siegmeister, American Composer: A Bio-Bibliography (Scarecrow, 2010). He has also written for The Hilltop Beacon (critic-at-large, 1966–67), Harvard Crimson (critic, 1967–68), WHRB (chief producer, 1968–70), Dunster Drama Review (1970–71), Risley Review (1973–75), WBAI (Producer, "Music of All the Americas," 1989–91), Opera Monthly (associate editor, 1990–94), Opera Journal (critic, 1995–97), Aufbau (critic, 1995–2002), andante.com (2002), Jewish Currents (1981–present), New Music Connoisseur (2001–2016, part of that time as copy editor), Soundwordsight.com (2015–present), and other publications.

His operas include Tales of Malamud (Idiots First (1973) – completion of work begun by Marc Blitzstein; Karla (1974); and Suppose A Wedding (1996), based on two stories and a play by Bernard Malamud); Sima (1976), based on The Krasovitsky Couple by David A. Aizman, tr. Edgar H. Lehrman; Hannah (1980) based on Midrashic legends, libretto in collaboration with Orel Protopopescu; The Family Man (1984), based on story by Mikhail Sholokhov; The Birthday of the Bank (1988), in Russian (and English tr. by composer) on Anton Chekhov's Yubilei; New World: An Opera About What Columbus Did to the "Indians" (1991), libretto in collaboration with Joel Shatzky; Sacco and Vanzetti –completion of work begun by Marc Blitzstein; The Wooing (2003), libretto by Abel Meeropol based on Anton Chekhov's The Boor; The Triangle Fire (2016), libretto by Ellen Frankel, and A Loveletter from Rosa Luxemburg (2019).

His musicals include The Comic Tragedy of San Po Jo (1963), book & lyrics in collaboration with Mark Kingdon; Growing Up Woman (1979), book & lyrics by Barbara Tumarkin Dunham; Kommt, wir aendern die Welt! (1981), book & lyrics by Guenter-Heinz Loscher, translated into Brooklynese by composer as Let's Change the Woild!; E.G.: A Musical Portrait of Emma Goldman (1987), book & lyrics in collaboration with Karen Ruoff Kramer; Superspy!: The S-e-c-r-e-t Musical (1988–91, rev. 2014), book by Joel Shatzky, lyrics in collaboration; The Booby Trap or Off Our Chests (2001–2008), book by Sydney Ross Singer, lyrics in collaboration; Adam & Lilith & Eve (1993–2015), book by Manya Pruzhanskaya Lackow.

His translations include Bertolt Brecht's Days of the Commune (1971) and Round Heads and Pointed Heads (1973), 20 Johannes Brahms songs, 13 Gerhard Bronner cabaret songs, Harry Oschitzki (Andy Orieli) and Heinrich Heine cycles, and other poems and essays from the German; Emmanuel Chabrier's L'Etoile (1988) and An Incomplete Education (2006) and songs by Claude Debussy (10), Jacques Brel, and Georges Brassens from the French; songs by Ya'acov Rotblit and Naomi Shemer from the Hebrew; "In der Fremd" from the Yiddish by Leyb Naydus; an ode by Euripides from the ancient Greek; Modest Mussorgsky's Zhenitba (Getting Married) (1973), Mikhail Glinka's A Life for the Tsar (1979), and Rusalka (Dargomyzhsky) (1986) from the Russian – in collaboration with his mother, Emily R. Lehrman (1923–2015), along with poems by Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Andrei Voznesensky (1967); Vladimir Mayakovsky (1970); Anna Akhmatova, Alexander Blok, Afanasy Fet, Ivan Krylov, Gavrila Derzhavin (all 1977); Velemir Khlebnikov and Alexander Pushkin (1986); Yefim Medvedovsky (2013–2016); and Galina Leybovich (2015). In 2016 he translated Sergei Slonimsky's opera King Lear , based on the Boris Pasternak Russian translation of Shakespeare, back into English.

From 1992 to 2003 he was Music Director at Malverne Community Presbyterian Church and from 1995 to 2001 at North Shore Synagogue in Syosset. Having worked at many other churches and synagogues, in February 2014 he became organist, choir director and composer-in-residence of Christ Church Lutheran in Rosedale, New York. In August 2014 he became High Holidays organist and choir director of the Metropolitan Synagogue in Manhattan. In October 2021 he became organist, choir director and composer-in-residence of Grace Episcopal Church in Massapequa, New York. Videos of preludes, postludes,

and anthems he played and conducted there may be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmhHI8m9j-Xv39n2TOboU-4MCoe7e8Xbi.

May 1-Aug. 31, 2022 he was Minister of Music at Grace Lutheran Church Malverne.

In the fall of 2022 he began playing masses at St. Barnabas' Roman Catholic Church in Bellmore.

In October 2022, he accepted the position of Conductor for the 2022-23 production of Princess Ida by

The Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island and between April 16 & July 1, 2023 conducted 5 performances from the piano, 4 with full orchestra and chorus. His works and performances are represented on recordings by Opus One, Premier, Capstone Records, Albany Records, Original Cast (record label), Ravello (Parma Records), and Toccata Classics.

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Bernstein</span> American conductor and composer (1918–1990)

Leonard Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first American conductor to receive international acclaim. According to music critic Donal Henahan, Bernstein was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history". He was the recipient of many honors, including seven Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, 16 Grammy Awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Kennedy Center Honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libretto</span> Text used in an extended musical work such as an opera or musical

A libretto is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term libretto is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass, requiem and sacred cantata, or the story line of a ballet.

"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama The Threepenny Opera. The song sings about a knife-wielding criminal of the London underworld from the musical named Macheath, the "Mack the Knife" of the title.

<i>Trouble in Tahiti</i> Opera by Leonard Bernstein

Trouble in Tahiti is a one-act opera in seven scenes composed by Leonard Bernstein with an English libretto by the composer. It is the darkest among Bernstein's "musicals", and one of only two for which he wrote the words and the music. Trouble in Tahiti received its first performance on 12 June 1952 at Bernstein's Festival of the Creative Arts on the campus of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, to an audience of nearly 3,000 people. The NBC Opera Theatre subsequently presented the opera on television in November 1952, a production which marked mezzo-soprano Beverly Wolff's professional debut in the role of Dinah. Wolff later reprised the role in the New York City Opera's first staging of the work in 1958. The original work is about 40 minutes long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Blitzstein</span> American composer

Marcus Samuel Blitzstein, was an American composer, lyricist, and librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration. He is known for The Cradle Will Rock and for his off-Broadway translation/adaptation of The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. His works also include the opera Regina, an adaptation of Lillian Hellman's play The Little Foxes; the Broadway musical Juno, based on Seán O'Casey's play Juno and the Paycock; and No for an Answer. He completed translation/adaptations of Brecht's and Weill's musical play Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and of Brecht's play Mother Courage and Her Children with music by Paul Dessau. Blitzstein also composed music for films, such as Surf and Seaweed (1931) and The Spanish Earth (1937), and he contributed two songs to the original 1960 production of Hellman's play Toys in the Attic.

Abel Meeropol was an American songwriter and poet whose works were published under his pseudonym, Lewis Allan. He wrote the poem "Strange Fruit" (1937), which was recorded by Billie Holiday. Meeropol was a member of the American Communist Party from 1932 to 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daron Hagen</span> American composer, writer, and filmmaker (born 1961)

Daron Aric Hagen is an American composer, writer, and filmmaker.

<i>The Magic Barrel</i> 1958 short story collection by Bernard Malamud

The Magic Barrel is a 1958 collection of thirteen short stories written by Bernard Malamud and published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Also, the Jewish Publication Society released its own edition at the same time. It won the 1959 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. It was also Malamud's debut collection of stories.

Elie Siegmeister was an American composer, educator and author.

<i>Rusalka</i> (Dargomyzhsky) Opera by Alexander Dargomyzhsky

Rusalka is an opera in four acts, six tableaux, by Alexander Dargomyzhsky, composed during 1848-1855. The Russian libretto was adapted by the composer from Aleksandr Pushkin's incomplete dramatic poem of the same name. It premiered on 4 May 1856 at the Theatre-circus, conducted by Konstantin Lyadov, choreographed by Marius Petipa and Nikolay Goltz, but was badly received predominantly by the aristocracy.

Paul Cohen is an American saxophonist. He is active as a performer, teacher, historian, musicologist, and author in areas related to saxophone.

Regina is an opera by Marc Blitzstein, to his own libretto based on the play The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman. It was completed in 1948 and premiered the next year. Blitzstein chose this source in order to make a strong statement against capitalism. In three acts, the musical style has been described as new American verismo, abounding in the use of spirituals, Victorian parlour music, dance forms, ragtime, aria and large, symphonic score.

Mayer Joel Mandelbaum is an American music composer and teacher, best known for his use of microtonal tuning. He wrote the first Ph.D. dissertation on microtonality in 1961. He is married to stained glass artist Ellen Mandelbaum, and is the nephew of Abraham Edel.

The Airborne Symphony is a work by American composer Marc Blitzstein for narrator, vocal soloists, male chorus, and large orchestra that premiered April 1–2, 1946. A history of human flight, the symphony uses music that the United States Army Air Forces, in which Blitzstein served during the World War II, originally commissioned for use in film.

Reuben, Reuben is a two-act, "urban folk opera" by Marc Blitzstein, written from 1953 to 1955. Set in New York's Little Italy and inspired by the Faust legend, it concerns Reuben, a suicidal veteran who has received a medical discharge because he cannot speak. His disorder serves as an allegory of the difficulties of interpersonal communication in society, and of the eventual triumph of love over these difficulties and over the death wish. It was shown at the Shubert Theatre in Boston from October 10 to 22, 1955. Hanya Holm choreographed, Robert Lewis stage directed, and Cheryl Crawford produced the show.

I've Got the Tune is an American radio opera with words and music by Marc Blitzstein. Dedicated to Orson Welles, it was commissioned by CBS Radio for its experimental series, the Columbia Workshop. Its first performance was broadcast October 24, 1937, with a cast that included the composer, Shirley Booth, Lotte Lenya and Norman Lloyd. The performance was conducted by Bernard Herrmann.

Kenneth Boulton is an American pianist and music educator. Boulton is currently the dean of the School for Fine Arts at Northern State University in South Dakota.

<i>A Salute to American Music</i> 1992 live album by James Conlon

A Salute to American Music is a 113-minute live album of music, both classical and popular, performed by Steven Blier, Renée Fleming, Paul Groves, Jerry Hadley, Karen Holvik, Marilyn Horne, Jeff Mattsey, Robert Merrill, Sherrill Milnes, Maureen O'Flynn, Phyllis Pancella, Leontyne Price, Samuel Ramey, Daniel Smith, Frederica von Stade, Tatiana Troyanos, Carol Vaness and Denise Woods with the Collegiate Chorale and members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under the direction of James Conlon. The album was released in 1992.

Sacco and Vanzetti is a 2001 opera by Marc Blitzstein and Leonard Lehrman.

Tales of Malamud is the name of two, one-act operas by Marc Blitzstein based on two stories by American writer Bernard Malamud. Namely, “Idiots First” and “The Magic Barrel.” At the time of his death in 1964, Blitzen had yet to formally finish both of the operas. The project was completed by American composer Leonard Lehrman and subsequently premiered in March 1977 in Bloomington, Indiana.

References

As of this edit, this article uses content from "Leonard Lehrman biography" , which is licensed in a way that permits reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, but not under the GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed.

  1. "WEDDINGS; Helene Williams-Spierman, Leonard Lehrman". NY Times. July 14, 2002. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  2. Lehrman Retrieved on 15 Jan 2018