The New York conductor and his nudist colony
NewsA well-intentioned musician updates us on the activities of Leonard Lehrman, composer and conductor of Valley Stream, NY.
Maestro Leonard Lehrman conducts a life that echoes with controversy and unconventional choices. The renowned conductor and composer, armed with credentials from Harvard and Cornell, plunges headfirst into audacious escapades, chronicled on his YouTube channel, alongside his wife, Helene Spierman. Their recent foray into a nudist resort called the Northeast Naturist Festival in Moravia, NY, blurs the line between artistic expression and self-indulgence.
Last September, he faced a torrent of disapproval when musicians, incensed by his handling of the production, stormed out of his rendition of “Sacco and Vanzetti” in the Bronx. It was a polarizing moment, highlighting the deep divide between Lehrman’s artistic vision and the expectations of the performers involved.
Land of the free? Apparently not. Oh the outrage! Nudity!
„ Their recent foray into a nudist resort …, blurs the line between artistic expression and self-indulgence.“
What? Replace ‚nudist resort‘ with any other leisure activity as ‚restaurant‘, ‚gym‘, ‚sailing‘ and you see how silly that sentence is. Poor America(ns).
Apparently they were let down by one of the brass players. The horn made a deep impression last time but couldn’t come again. The organ filled in.
You really have no idea: America is two (or more) disunited antagonists.
The nude pas de trois to Debussy, posted on YouTube just under 10 years ago, has had 441,000 Views, 668 Likes, 0 Dislikes, and several comments, all but one of them quite positive.
And why wasn’t the keyboardist naked?
Much ado about no one we’ve ever heard of.
Lehrman finds himself on the conductor’s podium once again this week a few months later after the Sacco and Venzetti disaster, this time leading a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Princess Ida” at The Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island. Amidst mounting controversy, Leonard Lehrman’s tenure as the conductor of “Princess Ida” has taken a tumultuous turn. As the production has approached its crescendo, allegations of unprofessionalism and discord have cast a dark cloud over Lehrman’s directorial style, with five out of six violinists quitting due to his questionable practices.
https://gaslocoli.org (information on the company)
A musician involved in the production revealed a disturbing account of Lehrman’s abusive behavior. The musician recounted instances of rehearsals being consistently extended beyond agreed-upon hours (without compensation), causing strain and frustration among the performers in addition to verbal altercations between the conductor and multiple musicians in the orchestra at rehearsal and over group e-mail exchanges which the entire orchestra was copied in on.
I have served as Music Director of GASLOCOLI in 1998 (THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD), 2011 (THE SORCERER) and 2017 (THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE). I will be seeing PRINCESS IDA this evening. The singers in the company and the musicians in the orchestra were a joy to work with. I am sorry to learn of any discord in this excellent group.
It was a pleasure to meet you Saturday night, Daniel. I was glad to hear from you that you enjoyed the performance.
This slander is full of one piece of inaccurate disinformation after another.
The title of the music in the first video above is now “Claire de moon.”
I wonder how many people were about to click on the age restricted video and then realized they do not want to see that dude naked!
The Emperor really does have no clothes!! (As if we didn’t know!)
Was it Alice Schwarzer who said she wasn’t interested in nudist resorts as there was no fun in the bells hanging lower than the bell ropes?
Please! Stop referring to nudist venues as ‘colonies’. It is condescending and disrespectful. Colonies are for ants and lepers. Nudists live in retreats, resorts, and camps.
Naturists, who believe in nudity with a social conscience, visit beaches, resorts, camps; correct, not “colonies.” And BTW, the annual Northeast Naturist Festival, which began in the early 1990s, changed management and died during COVID.
Recent????The videos were posted 6 and 9 years ago….
It looks like Leonard made the video private that he dropped his trousers in, displaying his very small…baton.
SACCO AND VANZETTI was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize Dec. 20, 2023, based on an international Zoom launch of the video from Sept. 10-11, 2023.
Slight correction: Dec. 20, 2022 and Sept. 10-11, 2022; not 2023. Sorry!
This message, regarding the performance of PRINCESS IDA, which I have been conducting,
was received June 26, 2023 from Thomas Z. Shepard, who authorized quoting it today:
“Hi Leonard,
Against considerable odds, you turned in a stellar performance yesterday.
Mazel Tov!”