GINA LEISHMAN was born in London, lived in Hamburg as a child, studied in Vienna and Edinburgh, and made her home in the USA after "fleeing the fishbowl of old Europe". At present she wishes she had stayed there. She co-founded a theater company in the 1970's in an abandoned taxi-meter factory in London - a cabaret theater dedicated to work of Bertolt Brecht, specifically his work with Hanns Eisler, which had been recently translated for the first time. She has periodically re-connected with those roots over the years, most recently with the Mr. Wau-Wa band, co-founded with Doug Wieselman. Now a composer and multi-instrumentalist, Ms. Leishman was just commissioned by La Jolla Playhouse to write a new score for Mother Courage. Another recent commission from Chamber Music America celebrates the 20th anniversary of her ensemble Kamikaze Ground Crew which, along with a song she wrote called "Re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic", just won't seem to go away. She is currently receiving rave reviews for her latest CD, Bed Time. www.ginaleishman.com