In the Boston area, Maestra Leach is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Boston Chamber Orchestra, a professional ensemble devoted to the performance of both classical repertoire and new music. She is also Music Director of the Harvard University Schola Cantorum, the Harvard Classical Orchestra, and the Boston Coro di Camera, a 16-voice professional chamber choir that will release its first CD this year. She has served as Music Director/Conductor of the Lowell Philharmonic Orchestra and is a frequent guest conductor of ensembles including the Melrose Symphony (MA), the Boston Back Bay Chamber Orchestra, the National Brass, the Shrewsbury Chorale (NJ) and the Chorus of Westerly (RI).

The recipient of many artistic honors, Brenda Leach was awarded the Prize Concert and orchestral engagement at the Peter the Great International Masterclass for Conductors in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1999. The prize included a guest conducting engagement with the superb St. Petersburg Hermitage Orchestra in the Great "Catherine Theater" of the Hermitage Museum. Ms. Leach also won the Premier Prix de Virtuosite and the Premier Prix d'Excellence avec Honors from the studio of Marie-Claire Alain at the Conservatoire de Rueil-Malmaison in France. Grammy-award winning musician, Marie Claire Alain, describes Ms. Leach as an artist who displays "brilliant technique and musicianship."

An accomplished concert organist as well, Ms. Leach has performed solo recitals world wide at such distinguished concert venues as Notre Dame Cathedral (Paris), Westminster Cathedral (London), St. George's Cathedral (Jerusalem), Washington National Cathedral (DC), St. Patrick's Cathedral (NYC), and the St. Petersburg State Capella Concert Hall (Russia). In addition to solo repertoire, she has performed chamber music, as well as many works with orchestra including the Poulenc "Concerto in G Minor for Orchestra and Organ" and the Saint-Saens "Symphony No. 3 for Organ and Orchestra" with the Detroit Symphony and the South Dakota Symphony.

Ms. Leach completed Post-Doctoral studies in Orchestral Conducting at the St. Petersburg Music Conservatory (named after Rimsky-Korsakov) in Russia where she studied with Maestro Alexander Polishchuk (Resident Conductor, Kirov Theater). She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music. Her dedication to the role of the arts in education and audience development led her to receiving a Master of Education in the Arts from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education where she worked with Howard Gardner and Jessica Davis. She was awarded the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship to pursue post-doctoral studies in France where she won several first prizes in music. Ms. Leach was also a Conducting Fellow with Sir David Willcocks of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Maestra Leach is at home with a broad range of repertoire from pops to educational programming, classical masterworks to world premiers. Many of her performances as both conductor and keyboard artist have been broadcast on television, National Public Radio, and on WGBH and WERS in Boston. Ms. Leach has presented lectures, workshops, and master classes, and has published articles on a variety of topics in music and the arts. She is active in creating unique artistic collaborations, which bring music to diverse audiences. This is evident in her work as a Consultant to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art where she developed a unique intergenerational audio tour, "A Few Notes on Modern Art," linking modern art with modern music.

Brenda Lynne Leach is also the Associate Artistic Director of the Peter the Great Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, which holds an annual International Conducting Masterclass in the Hermitage Museum with the Orchestra of the Mussorgsky Opera and Ballet Theater. She currently holds a faculty appointment at Harvard University and has taught at Clark and Tufts universities. For her distinguished work in the music field, her biography is listed in the International Who's Who in Music, the Who's Who of Women, and Who's Who in America. She is represented by Kostiuchenko Arts International in St. Petersburg, Russia (elenak@pdc.sbp.su).

Reviews

"She displayed brilliant technique and musicianship."

Marie-Clarie Alain, Grammy Award Winning Musician
 

"Leach wowed the audience…a top-notch musician!"

Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, SD
 

"Imaginative, brisk, lively…exuberant indeed!"

News Times, Danbury CT
 

"Maestra Leach is impressive!"

Lowell Sun, MA
 

"In addition to being an excellent conductor, Brenda Leach has a natural charisma with people whether it is the musicians of the orchestra or members of the audience. She shows great respect for the orchestra, while holding them to the highest artistic standards."

Alexander Polishchuk,
Resident Conductor, Kirov (Mariinsky) Orchestra
Conductor, Novosibirsk Chamber Orchestra
 

"I have had the opportunity to watch Ms. Leach develop the Boston Chamber Orchestra into a really first-rate ensemble. She is both skilled and knowledgeable in all styles of music and has a keen ear for nuances and musical finesse, and knows how to communicate these qualities in her conducting."

George Kern,
Professor of Piano
Salzburg Mozarteum, Austria
 

"She impressed all by her personality and rehearsal technique. With her friendly manner, she was able to inspire the musicians to perform their best."

Sir David Willcocks
The Bach Choir, London

Contact details and further information

E-mail Brenda Lynne Leach

For further details, see Brenda Lynne Leach