Ellen Chavez de Leitner: Bio
Ellen Chavez de Leitner - Violin
Bio of Ellen Chavez de Leitner, violinist
Ellen Chavez de Leitner performs as soloist and in ensembles, playing classical, liturgical, Latin influenced music, folk music with a classical influence, and more. Throughout her life Ellen has performed with many orchestras, chamber ensembles, and as soloist, balancing her career in music with her vocation as a mother of six children.
Ms. Leitner studied at the Conservatory of Vienna, Saint John's College, the University of New Mexico, the College of Santa Fe, and with her most influential mentor, Renata Armani Mencik Skoberne.
While in Austria, Ellen was a member of the Albertschweizerhaus Chamber Orchestra, Jeunesse Wien, Huebner’s Kursalon Orchestra, the Innsbruck Symphony Orchestra, and the Graz Philarmonic. In New Mexico, she has played with the Santa Fe Symphony, the Taos Chamber Orchestra and Chorus, and numerous orchestras and chamber ensembles.
Ms. Leitner has been working with guitarist, Roberto Capocchi since January 2000, and they have recorded a CD, “Duo Guadalupe, Music for Violin and Guitar”.
Ellen’s performances as soloist have included many works written for her by Catalonian composer Father José María Blanch. She has produced a CD of his music, "Canticos de Fe", with the composer playing piano, her daughter Cecilia singing, and herself on violin.
Ms. Leitner is also a visual artist, well known as a traditional New Mexican Santera, or painter of religious icons, and her images appear on the covers of her two CD's.
Ellen teaches in Santa Fe and has a studio in her home.
Cecilia Leitner - voice
Cecilia Leitner, soprano, is attending graduate school at Yale University, studying voice with James Taylor. She is a soloist, member of "Voxtet", a group of eight soloists with the Schola Cantorum of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. Ms. Leitner received her B.A. in Music from the North Carolina School of the Arts where she studied voice with Glenn Siebert. Her other teachers have been Margaret Croce in Santa Fe, NM, and Marilyn Tyler at the University of New Mexico. She also sang in master classes with Ruth Golden and Virginia Zeani.
Ms. Leitner has performed in Chapel Hill, Ashville, Winston-Salem and other cities in North Carolina in concerts, opera choruses and operettas. She was a soloist in the Illuminations Festival in Manteo, North Carolina, where she performed Baroque music, American art songs, and a varied program with her sister Genevieve Leitner accompanying her on guitar. Cecilia was an “emerging artist” in the Magnolia Baroque Festival in Winston Salem, NC, where she sang solos and duos accompanied by lute and theorbo. In New Mexico, she concertizes in the Santa Fe area singing in chamber music concerts, ensembles, and as a soloist. Cecilia has sung the music of Father Blanch since she was a child, and feels honored to record his music.
Father José María Blanch - composer & piano
José María Blanch was born on December 16th, 1926 in Manresa, Spain. His parents were Miguel Blanch Roig and Josefina Comas Cardús. His father taught music in the municipal school in Manresa and Barcelona and to the Jesuit priests in Manresa, as well as privately in their home. For this reason learning music was a natural process for the young José María. The family home was always filled with their own music, and they even sang their prayers.
When José María was nine years old, his father was executed during the Spanish Civil War. It was a tragedy which profoundly influenced his life. He attended school at the “Colegio de Huerfanos” (School for Orphans), where music was an important subject. The teachers were priests, who had to hide their identity to avoid being killed by the Communists. These priests were good, understanding, human beings, who were a major influence in Fr. Blanch’s decision to become a priest. His music teachers were Miguel Moncalb, Juan Gisbert, and his father and mother, among others. His higher education was at the Lateran school in Rome for his priestly formation, and the Academy of St. Cecilia for music. While in Rome he was the organist and director of the choir of Santa Viviana.
After being ordained into the Sons of the Holy Family, Father Blanch was assigned to many different places where, besides performing his duties as a priest, he always taught, performed and composed music. He spent fourteen years in Montepulciano, Italy, where he wrote many operettas and zarzuelas that were so popular that the local traffic had to be redirected for the performances. Highly qualified musicians would come from Rome, donating their services just because they liked his music so much.
Father Blanch feels very gratified that he was able to direct the formation of many young persons in the schools and seminaries where he taught. He has played the organ and taught music in every parish where he has served, including almost thirty years in New Mexico, mostly in Chimayo and Santa Cruz. Although he is an extremely talented musician, he has always dedicated his life to glorifying God, humbly teaching and inspiring through the Gospel, as well as through his music.