Biography

Whether conducting the 100 voices of Los Robles Master Chorale, the 115 voices of Los Angeles Master Chorale, or the 80 voices of the New West Symphony Chorus, Lesley Leighton's primary mission remains the same: to nurture southern California's rich choral music tradition. A native of Los Angeles, Leighton studied with Paul Salamunovich at Loyola Marymount University, where she earned her BA in choral conducting. She later obtained her MM in vocal performance and DMA in choral music from the University of Southern California.

Leighton's musical activities have taken her across the United States and abroad. A long-standing member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and principal artist for more than two decades, she has performed with many of the world's most eminent conductors, including Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gustavo Dudamel, Bramwell Tovey, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos and Grant Gershon. Her opera credits include principal appearances with New York City Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Koln Opera, Paris Opera and Glyndebourne.

As a choral conductor, Leighton embraces a broad range of music, from the Renaissance to the Romantic Era, although she is particularly dedicated to twentieth and twenty-first century compositions. A long-time advocate of music education, she inaugurated Los Robles Master Chorale's annual High School Choral Festival in March of 2010, launched the High School Choral Leadership Workshop in October 2010, and has established LRMC's Young Artist Choral Composers Competition.

Leighton was named to the newly-created post of Associate Conductor of Los Angeles Master Chorale in July 2011. In January 2011, she made her Disney Hall conducting debut with LA Master Chorale. Theodore Bell of CultureSpotLA wrote that she "soared in her debut as she skillfully guided Britten's Hymn to St. Cecilia with her sensitive direction.... The result was exquisite as she and the singers connected to bring Britten's iconic music to life with a unique personality. The Chorale responded to her every gesture; the phrases were controlled and nuanced to a degree of fine perfection." Leighton conducted the LA Master Chorale again in Fall of 2011 for their opening concert, and will do so on their May concert entitled Andes to the Sea. She is also music director of the New West Symphony Chorus, which premiered with the orchestra in May 2011 with performances of Orff's Carmina Burana. They are tentatively scheduled for three concerts with the orchestra in the 2011-12 season.

In the summer of 2010, Leighton co-conducted the Los Angeles Master Chorale with Grant Gershon and Gustavo Dudamel at the Hollywood Bowl, and prepared LA Master Chorale for Bramwell Tovey and the LA Philharmonic's performance of Bernstein's Candide at the Hollywood Bowl, and for Esa-Pekka Salonen and the LA Philharmonic on Magnus Lindberg's Graffiti at Disney Hall. For the 2011 Hollywood Bowl season she prepared LA Master Chorale for LA Philharmonic performances of Puccini's Turandot with Dudamel, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and the Mozart Requiem with Tovey, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Choral Fantasy for Rafael FrŸhbeck de Burgos. During the 2010-11 season, Leighton guest conducted the Faure Requiem, Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music and the Mozart Requiem, in addition to working as a guest clinician with choirs at Brandeis Institute, Padre Serra Catholic Church, and for several LAUSD choral invitationals. During the 2011-12 season, she was guest conductor for Amahl and the Night Visitors for El Dorado Opera, and has appeared as a guest speaker/clinician for Screen Actors Guild, Bradeis Institute, Vox Femina and the Los Angeles Unified School District. In the 2012 Hollywood Bowl season she will prepare the Los Angeles Master Chorale for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Carmina Burana.