About Paul Leavitt

Paul Leavitt made his début as a concert pianist at 15 years old with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from SUNY Purchase and a Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School in New York, both in piano performance. He was a laureate of the International Steinway Competition for Young Talents (1989) in Paris, France. As a pianist and organist he has performed in many prestigious venues such as the Espace Pierre Cardin, UNESCO, Palais Garnier, Salle Pleyel, l’Abbaye de Royaumont, l’Institut du Monde Arabe and at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. He also performs regularly at Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, where he has served as Director of Music and Art since 2002. In 2014 he was named Artistic Director and Conductor of  the Chorale of the Friday Morning Music Club and its orchestra, renamed Arioso Chorale and Orchestra in 2018. He also maintains an active teaching studio in the Washington, DC area.

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. His compositions are available through Augsburg Fortress, Subito Music Publishing and  Lumenaria Music Publishing (ASCAP) www.lumenariamusic.com.

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.  Organ studies with Donald Sutherland (Peabody). He is also a member of ASCAP, the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and a proud lifetime member of the Leschetizky Association in New York.

Cecelia Porter, contributing critic for the Washington Post said, “Paul Leavitt’s Requiem should belong in every chorus’ 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 was given in February 2009 at Church of the Reformation in Washington, DC under the direction of Dr. Thea Kano, recorded and released in November of 2009. The European première  took place in April 2011 at the Eglise St. Sulpice in Paris, France, produced by the Rotary Club. 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.  In July 2022, he conducted the Italian premiere of his Requiem at the Amalfi Coast Music and Art Festival. His work has been performed by several conductors including Robertas Servenikas, Ulysses James, Mark Whitmire, Norman Scribner and  J. Reilly Lewis.

He’s composed and premiered four major sacred works for chorus and orchestra as well as many shorter works. In December 2012 his Magnificat premiered at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC with the composer on the podium. His Stabat Mater, commissioned by Church of the Reformation, had its first performance  in May, 2023 with the Arioso Chorale and Orchestra. Leavitt’s Cantata Emmanuel was given its first performance in November, 2009 at Church of the Reformation, which commissioned the work in honor of its 140th anniversary . This 10 movement work is based on the church’s 10 magnificent stained glass windows depicting the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. Cantata Emmanuel was given its premiere in Moscow in December 2024 by Lyrica Classic Entertainment, featuring the Vocal Ensemble “Arielle” and the Novaya Moskva Orchestra under the direction of Dayana Hoffman. 

Leavitt has composed several commissions for the Choral Arts Society of Washington, the Congressional Chorus and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, including their latest choral project “Portraits” which was premiered at the Kennedy Center in June of 2024, and again at the GALA Festival in Minneapolis in July 2025. His Oseh Shalom (2003), commissioned by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, was included on their 25th anniversary CD entitled “Changing Hearts”, and has entered the repertoire of other men’s choruses across the country. Cecelia Porter of the Washington Post said, “Paul Leavitt’s Oseh Shalom had plaintive eloquence”.

He has written film scores for “Hidden Grapes” by Yoshi Nishio for the Isabella Stuart Gardener Museum in Boston, and for “The Last Refuge” by Xiao Hong Cheng for the Library of Congress in Washington. Film score for “Focus on Me”, written and produced by Nini Hadjis (2002). Leavitt also wrote and performed the score for “Le Roman d’un Tricheur” by Sacha Guitry with Jean-Laurent Cochet of the Comédie Française at the Théâtre Montparnasse (1994)  in Paris, touring throughout Europe for 2 consecutive seasons.

More about Paul

College: The Juilliard School, MM (1987)

SUNY Purchase, BFA (1984)

Université de Nantes, diplôme de français langue étrangère (1989)

Major: Piano performance

Favorite Color: Purple

Favorite Book: The Brothers Karamazov

Favorite Quote: Dans le pays des aveugles, les bourgnes sont les rois.

(In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Gluck wirkt manche mal, Arbeit immer!

(Luck works sometimes, work always!)

Competition brochures

1990 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow

1992 International Franz Liszt Competition in Utrecht, Holland