Lior Leigh
Pianist
Award-winning pianist Lior Leigh performs as a solo and chamber artist in the US and abroad. At the age of 19, he made his New York concerto debut at Carnegie Hall performing Piano Concerto No. 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich. He won grand prize and audience prize in the Camerata Artists International Piano Competition following his performance of Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Prokofiev at Merkin Hall.
An avid chamber musician, Dr. Leigh has collaborated in recitals with musicians of the Boston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra. He frequently concertizes with his brother Elisha Willinger, who recently was appointed Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Ball State University, and as part of Duo Ameliora with his wife Hannah Leigh, a violist. Passionate about the music of our time, Dr. Leigh has premiered countless works and has released a commissioning/performance/article series on I CARE IF YOU LISTEN called Active Listening. Each work in the project hopes to bring awareness and action to a social justice issue chosen by the composer.
Dr. Leigh earned the Bachelor of Music degree, the Master of Music degree, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with renowned artist-teacher, Yong Hi Moon. During his graduate studies, Peabody Conservatory honored Dr. Leigh with the Sidney Friedberg Prize in Chamber Music and the Presser Music Award "given to a student demonstrating excellence and outstanding promise for a distinguished career in the field of music.”
Active in the Baltimore community, Dr. Leigh is the Founder/Artistic Director of the If Music Be the Food concert series in Baltimore which acts to increase support and awareness for those struggling with food insecurity. The series, which partners with the Maryland Food Bank, has raised thousands of meals for those in need. Towards the end of his doctoral studies, he was appointed to the music theory and keyboard studies faculty at Peabody Conservatory. His most recent adventure had him touring internationally as Music Director for The Queen's Ball: A Bridgerton Experience, a Netflix/Shondaland/Fever production.
