34-year-old Jonathan Leshnoff is a rising star. Named by the Baltimore Sun as a 2006 “Artist to Watch,” his works have been performed and are currently programmed internationally by the Tokyo Philharmonic and the Kyoto and Extremadura (Madrid) symphony orchestras, and in this country by the orchestras of Buffalo, Kansas City, Columbus (OH), Oakland, Duluth, and Boca Raton; by the National Gallery, Curtis Institute, and National Repertory orchestras, the Baltimore and Iris chamber orchestras, the Da Capo Chamber Ensemble, Smithsonian's Twentieth Century Consort, Opus 3 Trio, and the “President's Own” United States Marine Band. Leshnoff is Composer-in-Residence of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra.

Three recordings devoted exclusively to Leshnoff's music are scheduled for release on the Naxos “American Classics” label: one includes the Symphony No. 1 (subtitled “Forgotten Chants and Refrains” and premiered by Michael Stern and the Iris Chamber Orchestra); the second release features his Violin Concerto, performed by violinist Charles Wetherbee and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Markand Thakar; the third disc contains Leshnoff's chamber music. Leshnoff's recent projects include a Double Concerto (performed by the Curtis Symphony at the Kimmel Center), a String Sextet for Concertante (premiered at Merkin Hall in New York City in May 2007) and a Quartet for Viola, Harp, Flute and Percussion (premiered in February 2008 as part of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society's 2007-2008 season with Roberto Diaz, Jeffrey Khaner, Eilzabeth Hainen and David DePeters).

His music has been lauded by the Kansas City Star as “a diaphanous orchestral fabric of beautiful transparency,” by the Memphis Commercial Appeal as “a fluid, thoughtful work, superbly textured and unafraid to be intellectual,” and by the Baltimore Sun as “remarkably assured, cohesively constructed and radiantly lyrical.” Currently an Associate Professor of Music at Towson University in Maryland, he can be found running around local Baltimore playgrounds with his children. He can be visited on line at www.jonathanleshnoff.com.