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The American bass-baritone and music pedagogue, Leslie W. Guinn, was born in Conroe, Texas. His father, Leslie Guinn, was a painter, and his mother, Sybil Guinn, was a homemaker. They recognized their son's love of music from a very early age. His mother loved to share that before the age of two, he made it known he preferred to climb into her rocking chair and sing himself to sleep, usually with a cowboy song. He had not yet been introduced to the music of his beloved Schubert. From his kindergarten report card……. “He shows excellent hand coordination, but he skips on one foot. He has an excellent sense of rhythm and thoroughly enjoys music. Can match tones. Would continue to encourage his singing. He is a spontaneous and delightful little boy, and though he is quite a little tease and conscious of his way of doing, he knows when to stop.” His loving parents followed the advice of his very astute teacher and were supportive of all of his endeavors. He attended Northwestern University.
Shortly after his graduation, Leslie Guinn was drafted and served as a soloist with the US Army Chorus. His New York debut was with Leopold Stokowski singing Carmina Burana, a work he was to sing so many times that he later said it supported his growing family in the early days of his career. He performed with many major symphony orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. Early in his career, he performed with such groups as the Abbey Singers, New York Pro Musica, and Music from Marlboro. Summer festival appearances included Marlboro, Tanglewood, Grant Park, Meadowbrook, Caramoor, Saratoga, Casals, Cabrillo, and Aspen Music Festival where he served as Artist/Teacher for 17 years.
Leslie Guinn made his European debut in 1983 with the Stuttgart Opera singing the title role in a new production of Alban Berg's Wozzeck with Dennis Russell Davies. He appeared as guest artist with the Bonn Opera in 1990, followed by a series of performances as Wotan in a new production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen with the Hannover Opera.
As an advocate of contemporary music, Leslie Guinn premiered many new works including the West Coast premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass and William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and Experience; Menotti's Song of Hope with the Philadelphia Orchestra; and several works written expressly for him, including the George Rochberg's String Quartet No. 7 and Christopher Rouse’s Mitternachtlieder. His recording of Samuel Barber's Dover Beach with the Concord String Quartet won a Grammy nomination for best chamber music and was included in High Fidelity’s list of “Best American Music on Record.” He recorded Robert Schumann duets with mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani and Gilbert Kalish, pianist. Their recording of Songs of Stephen Foster was named “Record of the Year” by Stereo Review Magazine.
Leslie Guinn joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1971 where he served as chair of the voice department faculty and was director of the School of Music’s Division of Vocal Arts from 1986 until his retirement in 1999. After retirement, he continued an affiliation with the University of Michigan for another year in their then newly formed Vocal Health Center. He loved his interactions with his students and was grateful for ongoing contact with so many. In recent times, he was honored to collaborate with Ann Arbor students from Skyline High School in the Legacies Project.
While Leslie was widely known for his beautiful voice, his family knew him for his infinite capacity for love and the ability to find joy in everything, his generosity of spirit, and his quiet faith. He died on December 12, 2020 in Ann Arbor, Miami, at the age of 85. |
