Brett Leighton is an Australian-born organist and harpsichordist who has lived in Europe for more than 30 years and is currently Professor of Organ and Harpsichord at the Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität in Linz, Austria. He is featured on four CD releases including Orgel Landschaft Ober-Österreich II (1998), Brett Leighton an der West-Orgel in Taufkirchen/Pram (1998) Music for Organ and Zink (2005) and The World's Oldest Organ and he is a judge for the 2007 Paul Hofhaimer Prize of Austria.
He was 1977 Student of the Year at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, where his teacher was David Rumsey. Further organ studies took him to Anton Heiller and Michael Radulescu in Vienna (Wiener Musikhochschule, 1981), and harpsichord with Jean-Claude Zehnder in Basel and Ton Koopman in Amsterdam. His many prizes and awards include the prestigious Paul Hofhaimer Prize of the City of Innsbruck in 1979. Since then, Brett Leighton has been an active recitalist in Europe, Japan, Australia, Mexico and the US. His repertoire spans almost all styles with an emphasis on historically researched performance practice. In addition, Leighton has played numerous first performances of contemporary organ works. He has broadcast and recorded CDs as soloist and in ensemble in Europe and Australia. In addition to teaching, Leighton is a regular performer at many European festivals and summer courses and has acted as consultant for the construction of new organs, especially in Austria.
Press
- Concert reviews in Oberösterreichische Nachrichten: Apr. 13, 2005, Jun. 24, 2005, Oct. 13, 2006 (in German)
- Concert announcement in Der Vinschger, calling his music "first-class and legendary" (in German)
- Concert announcement in Österreich Journal, Sep. 3, 2003 (in German).
- Concert announcement in La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, Jan. 22, 2005 (in Italian)
- Concert announcement in El Diario Vasco, Apr. 25, 2006, calling Leighton "one of the great specialists of the baroque repertoire" (in Spanish).
