Lehrman, Leonard J(ordan)

Lehrman, Leonard J(ordan), American composer, pianist, and conductor; b. Ft. Riley, Kans., Aug. 20, 1949. He received private composition lessons from Siegmeister (1960-70), and also studied with Kim, Del Tredici, Kirchner, and Foss at Harvard Univ. (B.A., 1971) and attendedthe American Cons. in Fontainebleau (1969). He continued his training at the École Normale de Musique in Paris (1971-72), the Salzburg Mozarteum (1972), with Husa and Palmer at Cornell Univ. (M.F.A., 1975; D.M.A., 1977), and at the Ind. Univ. School of Music in Bloomington (1975-76). Later he studied library and information science at Long Island Univ. (M.A., 1995). After making his debut as a pianist at N.Y.’s Carnegie Recital Hall in 1979, he conducted at the Bremerhaven City Theater (1981-83) before going to Berlin, where he was founder-president of the Jewish Music Theater (1983-86) and a conductor at the Theater des Westens (1983-85). Returning to N.Y., he became founder-conductor of the Metropolitan Phil. Chorus in 1988. In 1990 he joined the faculty of the Jewish Academy of Fine Arts, which became the Performing Arts Inst. of Long Island in 1993. He served as assoc. ed. of the magazine Opera Monthly from 1993. He ed. The Marc Blitzstein Songbook (N.Y., 1999).

Works

dramatic: Opera: Tales of Malamud, 2 operas after Malamud: Idiots First (completion of Blitzstein’s work, 1973; Bloomington, Ind., March 14, 1976) and Karla (1974; Bloomington, March 7, 1976); Sima (Ithaca, N.Y., Oct. 23, 1976); Hannah (Mannheim, May 24, 1980); The Family Man (concert perf., Berlin, Jan. 6, 1985; stage perf., N.Y., June 27, 1985); The Birthday of the Bank (1988); New World: An Opera About What Columbus Did to the “Indians” (1991; Huntington, N.Y., Aug. 11, 1992).musicals:Growing Up Woman, chamber musical (1980; Berlin, April 30, 1984); E.G.: A Musical Portrait of Emma Goldman (1986; N.Y., May 3, 1987); Superspy! The Secret Musical (1988; Paris, July 7, 1989). Also incidental music; cabarets, including A Blitztein Cabaret, Memories and Music of Leonard Bernstein, An Israel Cabaret, Jewish-American Cabaret, and The Jewish Woman in Song. orch.:Bloody Kansas (1975); Violin Concerto (1975); Flute Concerto (1982). chamber: Flute Sonata (1964-65); String Trio (1968); Sonata for Piano and Tape (1968); Piano Trio (1969-70); Sonatina for Solo Tuba (1980). vocal:The Universal Declaration of Human Rights for Chorus and Piano or Winds and Percussion (N.Y., Oct. 26, 1988); We Are Innocent, cantata on letters of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, for Soloists, Optional Chorus, and Piano or Orch. (1988; N.Y., June 11, 1989); A Requiem for Hiroshima for Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. or Chamber Ensemble (N.Y., Aug. 5, 1990); song cycles; solo songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire