John Leavitt

Born: 1956
Died:
Education: University of Missouri
Career: Friends University

JOHN LEAVITT (b. 1956) was born in Leavenworth, Kansas and currently resides in Olathe, Kansas. His career includes more than thirty years as a church musician and twenty years as a university music professor and director of choral activities. He has been the conductor of non-profit community choirs for both children and adults, and a lifelong composer of religious (and secular) music. He earned his PhD in Conducting from the Kansas City Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri, where he received the 2012 Alumni of the Year Award. He has won awards from the Association of American Authors, Composers, and Publishers (ASCAP), the Kansas Arts Council, and many others. He has worked on numerous events, institutions and organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts, Kansas Music Educators Association, St. Olaf Choir, University of Colorado, Northbrook City, Illinois, and many more. I wrote a commissioned piece. Dr. Leavitt is a regular guest conductor at Carnegie Hall in New York, where many of his works have been premiered or performed. He performed several times at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Many of his music and arrangements have become standard repertoire and are regularly performed in over 30 countries worldwide.