Leanna Kirchoff writes vocal and instrumental chamber music, choral anthems, musicals and opera. A native of rural Colorado, she draws inspiration from poetry, nature, mythology, and spiritual writings, specifically working with universal metaphors that speak to the human experience.
Kirchoff’s music has been included in concerts at Carnegie Hall, NY; the 9th New London Wind Festival, UK; the Ernest Bloch Festival, OR; the Chamber Music Conference, VT; Stages Theatre Company, MN; the American Choral Directors Association conference, MO; the Colorado Music Educators Association conference, CO; as well as frequent performances in the Denver area.
Most recently Kirchoff was named the 2010 Colorado State Music Teacher's Association Commissioned Composer, with a new piece to be premiered at the 2010 CSMTA conference in the Denver area.
In 2007 Kirchoff’s Meciendo won the Sorel Medallion, an international choral competition named in memory of pianist-prodigy, Claudette Sorel. Meciendo was performed at Carnegie Hall by Voices of Ascension, a New York-based choir under the direction of Dennis Keene. Other performances include the 2008 Colorado Music Educators Association and the 2008 American Choral Directors Association conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
Collaborative projects highlight Kirchoff’s catalog. She has held an American Composers Forum Faith Partners Residency, composing several pieces for Temple Emanuel Synagogue and Twelfth Baptist Church, in the Boston area. The resulting choral works of the residency were performed at the North American Jewish Choral Music Festival in New York as well as at the Project Manna concert in Newton, Massachusetts, a benefit concert for local food shelters.
Also, she has collaborated on numerous musical theatre projects, composing music and lyrics for seven musicals produced in Minnesota. Her musical theatre experience also includes work as a conductor, musical director and performance keyboardist for productions in Boston, Minnesota, and Colorado. She was assistant musical director and keyboardist for the first national tour of Schoolhouse Rock Live.
Two of Kirchoff’s chamber works appear on the 2006 recording, Cross Currents and Other New Music for Row Twelve, released by Massachusetts chamber ensemble, Row Twelve. Her solo flute piece, Cantus Rosarum, was included on the 2004 release Airs to Charm a Lizard, music for solo flute recorded by flutist, Katherine Kleitz.
Kirchoff holds a Master of Arts in Composition from the University of Minnesota where she studied with Dominick Argento and Judith Lang Zaimont. Her undergraduate degree in Commercial Music is from the University of Denver where she studied composition with Donald Keats and piano with Alice Rybak. She has been a composition fellow in masterclasses with George Tsontakis, Paul Moravec, and Donald Crockett among others.
At the University of Denver, Kirchoff teaches Composition Seminar as well as directs the Lamont Composers Concert Series. Also, she has been a faculty member at Metropolitan State College of Denver since 2001, teaching composition, theory and class piano.
She has also maintained a piano studio for the past seventeen years with themed recitals regularly given by her students. Among the most notable concerts include “Nocturnes and Other Night Music,” “Family Trees: A Concert of Musical Heritage,” and a concert featuring the music of women composers.
Kirchoff pursues a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Composition at the University of Colorado where her main teachers include Daniel Kellogg, Carter Pann and Richard Toensing (Professor Emeritus).