Cherise Leiter
Coordinator of Music Theory
Associate Professor
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Contact Area Classes |
Originally from Florida, Cherise Leiter received a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Theory and a Master of Music degree in Composition from the University of Florida where she studied with Dr. Budd Udell. In 1998, Ms. Leiter relocated to Colorado and is currently Associate Professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where she teaches theory and composition.
Ms. Leiter is an active composer whose output includes music for voice, choir, piano, carillon, orchestra, and various chamber ensembles. She was the 2004 CSMTA Commissioned Composer with The Life in a Day for alto flute, guitar and cello, which has been recorded by Dr. Michelle Stanley and will be released on the Centaur label in the winter of 2006. In 1997 she was a finalist in the Young American Choral Composers Competition sponsored by G. Schirmer. Her Trio No. 1 "Frog" for flute, violin, and cello was selected for performance at the College Music Society 2004 Rocky Mountain Chapter Annual Meeting; In the Words of Mark Twain (SATB choir), a commission for the Gainesville (FL) Civic Choristers, was a finalist in the Ithaca College 25th annual Choral Composition Festival; and Lament for String Orchestra was performed in November 2004 by the Mercury Ensemble, and is periodically heard on Colorado Public Radio. In June 2005 Bassoon Quartet No. 1 was premiered at the International Double Reed Society Conference in Texas. Alleluia (SATB choir) was a finalist in the 2006 Outside the Bach’s competition, and Three Songs for the Soul won the Braintree/Nashoba Valley choral competition in February 2006. Cherise Leiter is published by Editions Viento.


