Leonard Mark Lewis

Leonard Mark Lewis, born in Great Yarmouth, England (1973) and raised in Houston, Texas, is a composer, pianist, and arranger. His vocal works include the chamber opera Wake Lucia, A Joycean Operatic Rite and a catalog of celebrated art songs. An avid collaborator, he has worked extensively with choreographers and dance companies throughout the United States and abroad.

Lewis has received commissions and performances from the Charlotte Symphony, Rock Hill Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, North/South Consonance, AURA, Symposium for New Band Music, New Music Camerata, NACUSA, Concordia Trio, Hyperion Ensemble, Rhodora Trio, Duo Amizade, and the New Century Quartet. His music has also been championed by distinguished soloists including Kenneth Tse (saxophone), Alan Black (cello), James Dick (piano), Brian Utley (saxophone), Benjamin Geller (viola), Leonardo Soto (percussion), and Thomas Burge (trombone/euphonium), among many others.

His works have been performed extensively throughout the United States and internationally at major venues, festivals, and conferences including Carnegie Hall, the Blumenthal Center for the Performing Arts, the Kennedy Center, the Dallas Museum of Art, the World Saxophone Congress, the International Trombone Festival, and the National and Biennial Conferences of the North American Saxophone Alliance. International performances include appearances in London, Helsinki, Cardiff, Bremen, and Bucharest, with additional presentations across Europe, Asia, and the United Kingdom.

Lewis’s concerti include Evolution (percussion, for Leonardo Soto), Vast Skies (viola, for Benjamin Geller), and Concerto for Saxophone (for Kenneth Tse). The Concerto for Saxophone has also been performed by Steve Ticknor (President’s Own), Nate Nabb, and Tracy Patterson, who presented the work at Carnegie Hall. His viola concertino, Weeping, an Angel. Immense, has received recent performances with the Charlotte Symphony, Rock Hill Symphony, and North/South Consonance (NYC). The Charlotte Symphony also premiered his cello concerto, I Will Wade Out, with Alan Black as soloist.

Most recently, Lewis’s viola works have garnered national recognition, including awards from the Northern California Viola Society (2026). Recent viola compositions have been commissioned by Marcus Pyle (Davidson College) and Matthew Darsey (CSO), further establishing his growing presence in the contemporary viola repertoire.

In addition to his work as a composer, Lewis is an active arranger and orchestrator. He has arranged and orchestrated for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and the Rock Hill Symphony Orchestra, and has orchestrated works for internationally celebrated Irish fiddler and composer Liz Knowles.

Lewis is Professor of Music at Winthrop University and is the recipient of awards including ASCAP, BMI, the Columbia University Bearns Prize, and Voices of Change.