Paul Leavitt made his début as a concert pianist at 15 years old with the Albany Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Julius Hegyi. As a scholarship student he received a Master's Degree from the Juilliard School in New York and a Bachelor's Degree from SUNY Purchase. He was a laureate of the International Steinway Competition for Young Talents (1989) in Paris, France. A versatile musician and composer, Mr. Leavitt performs regularly in Europe and in the United States as a classical pianist, concert organist and choral conductor. Recent piano recitals including his first Liszt-a-thon in Washington in May 2008, where he performed in less than 24 hours 2 separate 90 minute programs devoted to the piano works of Franz Liszt.
Cecelia Porter, contributing critic for the Washington Post said, “Paul Leavitt’s Requiem...should belong in every chorus’s repertoire. It is deeply expressive and skillfully written, and successfully combines the sense of overwhelming grief and consolation that suffuse the requiems of Mozart, Verdi, Brahms and Fauré."
The world première of his Requiem for double chorus, 5 soloists, chamber orchestra, organ and harp was given in February 2009 at Church of the Reformation in Washington, DC under the direction of Dr. Thea Kano. The new work recorded and released in November of 2009.
The European première of his Requiem took place in April 2011 at the Eglise St. Sulpice in Paris, France, produced by the Rotary Club as a kick-off benefit concert for their Clean Water Initiative. The New York City Master Chorale performed the New York premiere at Alice Tully Hall in New York’s Lincoln Center in May 2011. The work was also featured in a concert at the “Remember to Love” chorale festival organized by Trinity Episcopal Church on Wall St. commemorating the tenth year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.
Leavitt’s discography includes “Requiem and other choral works” released in 2009, “Chopin: 4 Ballades, Barcarolle and Sonata in b minor” (2007) and “Muse en Scène” (1995) featuring his piano compositions. A CD of Sonata in b minor, Dante Sonata and Sonetti by Franz Liszt is scheduled for release in early 2012. His choral compositions are available through Augsburg Fortress Press and through www.paulleavittmusic.com.
Leavitt is the full-time Director of Music and Arts at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Washington, DC.
Piano studies with Zelma Bodzin (Mannes), Mercês de Silva Telles, Lucette Descaves (CNSM Paris), William Masselos (Juilliard), German Diez (SUNY Purchase) and the composer Joseph Fennimore. Further composition studies with Deniz Hughes (NYU). Organ studies with Donald Sutherland (Peabody). He is also a member of ASCAP, the American Guild of Organists and a lifetime member of the Leschetizky Association in New York.
Paul Leavitt teaches out of his home in Reston, VA and at Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
|
