Dr. John Leman, Artistic Director Emeritus
Dr. John Leman was professor of choral conducting at the University of Cincinnati , College-Conservatory of Music and was named Artistic Director of Musica! in August 1993.
Dr. Leman has been on the faculty of CCM since 1969. A native of Illinois, he received his masters and doctoral degrees in music education from the University of Illinois. Additional post-doctoral study was done with professor Harry Archer in Hastings, England. He has been a guest conductor for choirs in fourteen states and seven foreign countries, and has lectured on conducting techniques throughout the United States. During ten years with the American Youth Chorus, he conducted more than 150 performances in 12 European Countries, visiting every major European city. In 1980 Dr. Leman was appointed National Chairman of the Committee on Male Voices of the American Choral Directors Association.
In 1978 he was appointed Director of Choruses for the May Festival, the official chorus of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In that capacity he has collaborated with conductors including Thomas Schippers, James Levine, Walter Susskind, Julius Rudel, Robert Shaw, Andrew Davis, Klaus Tennstedt, Max Rudolf, Michael Tilson Thomas, Michael Gielen, and Jesus Lopez-Cobos. In 1987 he organized the Cincinnati May Festival Youth Chorus.
He has presented numerous sessions on the relationship of conducting gesture to sound at ACDA and MENC Conventions. He is recognized throughout the United States as one of the top conducting analysts and is in demand throughout the country as a clinician in this field.
In the summer of 1988, he took the Cincinnati May Festival Chorus on their first trip to Europe. After this tour, he accepted an invitation to return to Yugoslavia the following summer to perform with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1989, he organized the Cincinnati International Chorale, for European concert tours. During the summer of 1991, the Chorale performed with both the Moscow Radio and Television Orchestra and the Leningrad New Philharmonic Orchestra.
Leman was also one of six American conductors to conduct the 22,000-voice choir in Estonia for the historic “Bridges of Song Festival.” In 1988 he was honored as the recipient of the Post-Corbett Award in the category for Outstanding Performing Artist in the city of Cincinnati.