David Leisner matters to me for more than his story of focal dystonia. I also want to understand how he thinks about music, what he seeks in repertoire and how he tries to reach listeners. His January 2026 pre-concert interview with Jordan T. Peterson does not directly discuss dystonia. It does, however, open precisely this wider perspective: from a single beloved guitar to new music and personal contact with an audience.

Forty-Four Years with One Guitar

In the interview, Leisner describes his 1982 John Gilbert guitar as his only instrument. What struck me was the absence of a constant search for more equipment. He speaks about trust in the maker and long experience with a guitar that suits him.

I do not turn this into a rule that everyone should play one instrument all their life. What matters is the relationship between the individual, their possibilities and the resulting sound. Changing instruments can make sense, but cannot by itself answer what we want to communicate through music.

Beyond the Notes Lie All the Other Markings

Leisner observes that guitarists devote considerable attention to fingerings and simply sounding the notes. Tempo and character indications, articulation and accents can then be overlooked. Yet precisely this information helps us understand what should happen to those notes.

As a counterweight to thinking only about fingers, he recommends listening to other instruments. Pianists such as Rubinstein, Horowitz and Schnabel offer experience with repertoire from a similar period even when they do not play guitar composers. A slight delay before a note can change a whole phrase's meaning. The guitar adds its own colours and vibrato.

He also returns to understanding the body and letting go of unnecessary control. He finds the word 'release' too vague unless we know what it means in a particular situation. This is a useful question for professional movement work too: what specific difference should appear, and how will we recognise it?

Oh Freedom and Music with Real Meaning

From his own programme, he introduces the third of his Freedom Fantasies, based on the spiritual Oh Freedom. The theme appears at the beginning, at the end and within the work. Leisner discusses blues and jazz language, rhythm and the meaning of the original song, associated with freedom and the end of slavery.

For me, it matters to go beyond describing a compositional process. The subject is not an empty store of impressive rhythms. Leisner connects it with music he has known since youth and a meaning he wants to pass on. Listening can begin with that awareness, rather than counting how many variations we identify correctly.

Mertz and Matějka: Discovery Also Requires Correcting Mistakes

Leisner recounts encountering Mertz's pieces while looking for other repertoire. Correspondence with libraries and the collection of materials followed, before easy internet searches existed. On his first solo record, he paired Mertz with Giuliani, hoping to reveal the value of music that did not then receive today's attention.

The story of Václav Matějka was even more winding. He initially attributed a sonata to another composer. A listener's observation and subsequent research eventually helped establish the correct attribution. To me, this is a valuable example of openness in research: discovery includes the willingness to change one's earlier conclusions.

I retain Leisner's high estimation of Mertz and Matějka as his artistic judgement, not an objective ranking of composers. What matters is the invitation not to narrow repertoire to a few endlessly repeated titles, and to study the careful expressive directions in the original works.

Duarte, Winslow and the Search for a Personal System

His recollection of John Duarte combines technical system with lengthy stories about the musical world. Regarding Richard Winslow, Leisner specifically clarifies that he did not undertake continuous direct composition study with him, but attended several theory courses and found further inspiration. This distinction is worth preserving.

Winslow's variations showed him that simple tonal material could carry distinctive music even in an age that admired complexity. The question of a personal compositional system left an even more lasting impression. This is not just surface style, but the principles that hold music together and make its parts need one another.

Presence Fills a Large Hall, Not Volume Alone

Asked how a solo guitar fills a larger space, Leisner responds with the idea of drawing listeners towards him. The necessary carrying power of the sound should not be confused with the whole meaning of stage presence. He recalls a Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau concert: even from a distant seat, he felt the singer was singing directly to him.

The conversation also mentions Segovia, Joe Pass, Jonathan Biss and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Some examples come from the interviewer rather than Leisner. What connects them is the ability to draw someone into the music. This effect does not arise solely from playing the right notes without mistakes.

New Compositions Need Open Listening

The interview was recorded on 16 January 2026, the day Leisner says his album Dedications was released. He presents it as a long-term project involving commissioned works, some created during the pandemic. He also mentions Peter Sculthorpe, David Del Tredici and other composers. He recommends the short composers' notes in the booklet as an introduction to unfamiliar music.

Then comes simple listening. We need not name everything immediately. A piece may draw us back and reveal another layer on a later hearing. I treat the concerts and awards discussed as part of that January interview, rather than a current invitation; nor do I turn advance mentions of awards into confirmed later outcomes.

Specifically, in January he discussed planned participation at Carnegie Hall in a large mass by Mark Buller for choir, baritone and guitar, and concerts in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. In that context, he mentions music by Peter Sculthorpe and Osvaldo Golijov and his own Acrobats for flute and guitar, addressing the Holocaust. He also announced that he would receive the Celedonio Romero Lifetime Achievement Award at the Leyenda Foundation convention then being prepared for 2026. These are reports and plans stated in the interview, not my subsequent verification of every event.

Why This Article Also Belongs in the FD Series

Not because a concert programme treats dystonia. The reason is the chance to see Leisner as a whole musician. For a reader whose playing is limited, the world of listening, understanding, discovering repertoire and connecting with others remains accessible.

For myself, I keep his invitation not to confuse music with fingers. This is a different kind of insight from a specific rehabilitation procedure, but it can profoundly affect our relationship with an instrument.

Approximate locations in the transcript: 00:45 the guitar; 03:00 markings and the whole; 10:46 Freedom Fantasies; 13:05 Mertz and Matějka; 23:50 teachers; 35:04 hall and audience; 40:20 Dedications.

Conversation source

• Podcast:Gradus ad Parnassum.
• Episode:Pre-Concert Talk: David Leisner.
• Interviewer:Jordan T. Peterson.
• Guest:David Leisner.
• Published:2026-01-17 at 22:03:55 UTC.
• Platform of the supplied source:Apple Podcasts.
• Listen and programme information: Gradus ad Parnassum – Programme archive; the title and date above identify the episode.
• Source material:the supplied English transcript09 - Pre-Concert-Talk-David-Leisner.txt. Obvious automatic transcription errors in names and titles have been corrected editorially; this article is a thematic treatment rather than a verbatim translation.

Another direct source: David Leisner: the book Playing with Ease. Personal experiences and pedagogical opinions in the interview are not a universal treatment for focal dystonia.

David Leisner - all ten interviews

1. David Leisner: less control, more music
2. David Leisner: how to connect the body, the technique and the sense of the composition
3. David Leisner: own musical voice, stage fright and confidence
4. David Leisner: return after dystonia, creation and life support
5. David Leisner on focal dystonia: the first discovery is not the end of the road
6. David Leisner: first man, then guitar
7. David Leisner: what hides Bach, Ginastera, Villa-Lobos and Mertz
8. David Leisner: a wider musical life, exercises and a journey from dystonia
9. David Leisner: Music beyond Fingers and Concerts (this article)
10. David Leisner: Playing with Ease, composition and the joy of cooperation