Leslie Dunner
Encyclopedia
Leslie Byron Dunner is an American
conductor
and composer
.
and later for the Brooklyn Department of Sanitation, while his mother was a social worker. Dunner grew up in Harlem
and the South Bronx
and developed an interest in jazz that was disapproved of by his high school teachers. He learned to play the clarinet and also acquired from his older sister a passion for African dance, a talent that led to him becoming the youngest performer at the 1964 New York World's Fair
. He went on to the University of Rochester
's Eastman School of Music
, where he was awarded his bachelor's degree in 1978. He later attended Queens College in New York
, where he was awarded a master's degree in 1979, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
, where he was awarded a Ph.D.
in 1982.
Dunner's first professional appointment was an academic one. He became a professor of music at Carleton College
in Northfield
, Minnesota
, in 1982. He remained there until 1986, when he became the principal guest conductor at the Dance Theatre of Harlem
and, in 1987, the resident conductor at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
(DSO). Dunner's residency at the Detroit Symphony lasted until 1999 and provided the platform on which he built his subsequent career.
Dunner's reputation as a conductor rests on his ability to communicate with the audience through a wide variety of musical styles, and through his willingness to experiment with tempo and presentation. He is a flamboyant performer whose conducting style owes almost as much to dance as to the more conservative classical music tradition. While he was with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
, first as resident, then associate, and finally as assistant conductor, Dunner performed in concerts ranging from Pops to the major classical repertoire. He also led the DSO in developing their educational programs, concerts for young people, and touring programs. Above all, as Dunner told the New Bay Times (Annapolis) in 1998, he is interested in having his audiences feel the music as well as experience it intellectually.
During his time with the DSO, Dunner's reputation as a charismatic and popular conductor grew quickly. In 1994 he was invited to work as assistant to veteran conductor Kurt Masur
(1927--) with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, joining them on their 1995 European tour. His association with the New York Philharmonic
ended in 2001. Also in the 1990s Dunner was involved with the Detroit Symphony Civic and Dearborn Symphony Orchestras and toured Europe, South America, and the United States with the Dance Theatre of Harlem
. In 1992 he performed with the Dance Theatre of Harlem
for Nelson Mandela
, the South African leader who had been released from prison two years earlier. Dunner also took the Dance Theatre of Harlem
to world-famous festivals, including the Salzburg Festival in Austria
and the Tivoli Festival in Denmark
.
In 1998 Dunner took up the post of music director of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra
with a promise to rejuvenate the orchestra with his own brand of flamboyant conducting and varied musical programming. He explained to the New Bay Times shortly before taking up the post that he hoped to make the audience react to the music: "I think the only promise I can make at this point is things won't be boring.... People have to make up their own minds as to whether they like something or not." Although he began his residence at Annapolis with the conservative program inherited from his predecessor, in the five years he worked in Annapolis the orchestra developed a reputation for the accessibility of its concerts and the dynamism of its performances.
Dunner left Annapolis in 2003 moving to Chicago
and took up the post of musical director at the renowned Joffrey Ballet Company, pledging to ensure that the dancers never performed without live musical accompaniment. By the end of 2003 he had already made his mark on the ballet orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta
. Hedy Weiss, dance critic of the Chicago Sun Times, called his Christmas 2003 performance of The Nutcracker "masterful," praising the way he adjusted rhythm and tempo "to support, even inspire, the performer's perfect balance."
Besides his long-term posts Dunner has performed as guest conductor with major orchestras around the world. These include the New York Philharmonic
, the San Francisco and Seattle Symphony orchestras, the Symphony Orchestra of Madrid (Spain), and the Warsaw Sinfonia (Poland). Dunner makes regular trips to South Africa, where he has performed with that country's major orchestras. He has also performed with chamber orchestras, and with prestigious international dance companies, including the American Ballet Theater, the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden (London, England), and the Birmingham Royal Ballet
(Birmingham, England). Dunner has also received many awards and honors, including the Detroit Man of the Year and Spirit of Detroit awards, and commendations from the National Association of Negro Musicians. He was the first American winner of the Arturo Toscanini International Conducting Competition in 1986, and the recipient of the Distinguished Young Alumnus award from the University of Cincinnati
in 1996. He was also honored by the NAACP in 1991 with the James Weldon Johnson Award.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Biography
Leslie was born in New York City to parents Lloyd Bertram Dunner and Audrey (Hemmings) Dunner. His father worked at the Brooklyn Navy YardBrooklyn Navy Yard
The United States Navy Yard, New York–better known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard or the New York Naval Shipyard –was an American shipyard located in Brooklyn, northeast of the Battery on the East River in Wallabout Basin, a semicircular bend of the river across from Corlear's Hook in Manhattan...
and later for the Brooklyn Department of Sanitation, while his mother was a social worker. Dunner grew up in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
and the South Bronx
South Bronx
The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....
and developed an interest in jazz that was disapproved of by his high school teachers. He learned to play the clarinet and also acquired from his older sister a passion for African dance, a talent that led to him becoming the youngest performer at the 1964 New York World's Fair
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...
. He went on to the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
's Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
, where he was awarded his bachelor's degree in 1978. He later attended Queens College in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where he was awarded a master's degree in 1979, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
The University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music is the performing arts college of the University of Cincinnati and is one of the nation's leading music conservatories. In its most recent rankings, U.S. News & World Report ranked Cincinnati sixth nationally among university programs...
, where he was awarded a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1982.
Dunner's first professional appointment was an academic one. He became a professor of music at Carleton College
Carleton College
Carleton College is an independent non-sectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. The college enrolls 1,958 undergraduate students, and employs 198 full-time faculty members. In 2012 U.S...
in Northfield
Northfield, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,147 people, 4,909 households, and 3,210 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,452.2 people per square mile . There were 5,119 housing units at an average density of 732.1 per square mile...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, in 1982. He remained there until 1986, when he became the principal guest conductor at the Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company and school of the allied arts founded in Harlem, New York City, USA in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook...
and, in 1987, the resident conductor at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...
(DSO). Dunner's residency at the Detroit Symphony lasted until 1999 and provided the platform on which he built his subsequent career.
Dunner's reputation as a conductor rests on his ability to communicate with the audience through a wide variety of musical styles, and through his willingness to experiment with tempo and presentation. He is a flamboyant performer whose conducting style owes almost as much to dance as to the more conservative classical music tradition. While he was with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...
, first as resident, then associate, and finally as assistant conductor, Dunner performed in concerts ranging from Pops to the major classical repertoire. He also led the DSO in developing their educational programs, concerts for young people, and touring programs. Above all, as Dunner told the New Bay Times (Annapolis) in 1998, he is interested in having his audiences feel the music as well as experience it intellectually.
During his time with the DSO, Dunner's reputation as a charismatic and popular conductor grew quickly. In 1994 he was invited to work as assistant to veteran conductor Kurt Masur
Kurt Masur
Kurt Masur is a German conductor, particularly noted for his interpretation of German Romantic music.- Biography :Masur was born in Brieg, Lower Silesia, Germany and studied piano, composition and conducting in Leipzig, Saxony. Masur has been married three times...
(1927--) with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, joining them on their 1995 European tour. His association with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
ended in 2001. Also in the 1990s Dunner was involved with the Detroit Symphony Civic and Dearborn Symphony Orchestras and toured Europe, South America, and the United States with the Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company and school of the allied arts founded in Harlem, New York City, USA in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook...
. In 1992 he performed with the Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company and school of the allied arts founded in Harlem, New York City, USA in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook...
for Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, the South African leader who had been released from prison two years earlier. Dunner also took the Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company and school of the allied arts founded in Harlem, New York City, USA in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook...
to world-famous festivals, including the Salzburg Festival in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and the Tivoli Festival in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
In 1998 Dunner took up the post of music director of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra
Annapolis Symphony Orchestra
The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra is based in Annapolis, Maryland, and has been in operation since 1962. Its founders included Kenneth W. Page, a well-respected civic leader in the Annapolis area during the 1960s. He was also the music director of the Annapolis High School band...
with a promise to rejuvenate the orchestra with his own brand of flamboyant conducting and varied musical programming. He explained to the New Bay Times shortly before taking up the post that he hoped to make the audience react to the music: "I think the only promise I can make at this point is things won't be boring.... People have to make up their own minds as to whether they like something or not." Although he began his residence at Annapolis with the conservative program inherited from his predecessor, in the five years he worked in Annapolis the orchestra developed a reputation for the accessibility of its concerts and the dynamism of its performances.
Dunner left Annapolis in 2003 moving to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and took up the post of musical director at the renowned Joffrey Ballet Company, pledging to ensure that the dancers never performed without live musical accompaniment. By the end of 2003 he had already made his mark on the ballet orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta
Chicago Sinfonietta
The Chicago Sinfonietta is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. The stated mission of the orchestra is to "serve as a national model for inclusiveness and innovation in classical music" and to "help America become a true cultural democracy, in which everyone can share fully in its...
. Hedy Weiss, dance critic of the Chicago Sun Times, called his Christmas 2003 performance of The Nutcracker "masterful," praising the way he adjusted rhythm and tempo "to support, even inspire, the performer's perfect balance."
Besides his long-term posts Dunner has performed as guest conductor with major orchestras around the world. These include the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, the San Francisco and Seattle Symphony orchestras, the Symphony Orchestra of Madrid (Spain), and the Warsaw Sinfonia (Poland). Dunner makes regular trips to South Africa, where he has performed with that country's major orchestras. He has also performed with chamber orchestras, and with prestigious international dance companies, including the American Ballet Theater, the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden (London, England), and the Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet is one of the three major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet and the English National Ballet....
(Birmingham, England). Dunner has also received many awards and honors, including the Detroit Man of the Year and Spirit of Detroit awards, and commendations from the National Association of Negro Musicians. He was the first American winner of the Arturo Toscanini International Conducting Competition in 1986, and the recipient of the Distinguished Young Alumnus award from the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
in 1996. He was also honored by the NAACP in 1991 with the James Weldon Johnson Award.