Paul Leavitt made his début as a concert pianist at 15 years old with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from SUNY Purchase and a Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School in New York, both in piano performance. He was a laureate of the International Steinway Competition for Young Talents (1989) in Paris, France. As a pianist and organist he has performed in many prestigious venues such as the Espace Pierre Cardin, UNESCO, Palais Garnier, Salle Pleyel, l’Abbaye de Royaumont, l’Institut du Monde Arabe and at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. He also performs regularly at Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, where he has served as Director of Music and Art since 2002. In 2014 he was named Artistic Director and Conductor of the Chorale of the Friday Morning Music Club and its orchestra, renamed Arioso Chorale and Orchestra in 2018. He also maintains an active teaching studio in the Washington, DC area.

Cecelia Porter, contributing critic for the Washington Post said, “Paul Leavitt’s Requiem should belong in every chorus’ repertoire. It is deeply expressive and skillfully written, and successfully combines the sense of overwhelming grief and consolation that suffuse the requiems of Mozart, Verdi, Brahms and Fauré.” The world première of his Requiem was given in February 2009 at Church of the Reformation in Washington, DC under the direction of Dr. Thea Kano, recorded and released in November of 2009. The European première took place in April 2011 at the Eglise St. Sulpice in Paris, France, produced by the Rotary Club. The New York City Master Chorale performed the New York premiere at Alice Tully Hall in New York’s Lincoln Center in May 2011. The work was also featured in a concert at the “Remember to Love” chorale festival organized by Trinity Episcopal Church on Wall St. commemorating the tenth year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. In July 2022, he conducted the Italian premiere of his Requiem at the Amalfi Coast Music and Art Festival. His work has been performed by several conductors including Robertas Servenikas, Ulysses James, Mark Whitmire, Norman Scribner and J. Reilly Lewis. More