About

Dr. Leigh Ashmore Stephenson is a native of Greenville, South Carolina where most of her family still resides. She grew up in the nearby small town of Taylors where she attended Taylors First Baptist Church. Leigh recalls enthusiastically accepting Jesus as her Savior at the tender age of 6. She then somehow convinced her pastor, Edwin Young, to baptize her along with her older brother David when she was just 7 years old. Although Dr. Young said she might be a little too young, she remembers telling him that you’re never too young to know Jesus ~ childlike faith.

Taylors First Baptist Church was an incredibly inspiring church to grow up in as it was home to many of Billy Graham’s original Crusade Team. Cliff Barrows and his wife Billie, who led music for the Crusades, were so full of the joy of the Lord that it was contagious! Every time they were in town, they encouraged Leigh and other talented young musicians in the church to use their gifts for the Lord and to His glory. The Light shined so brightly through them that many were inspired and filled with the desire to share the gift of God’s grace, as well as come to know “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3: 7-8), which is available to all who put their faith in Him. What better way to share the gospel than through the gift of music!

For Leigh, the lantern was lit at age 16. She recalls having the most mediocre alto voice in youth choir until the Holy Spirit gifted her with an incredible operatic soprano voice which literally came down from Heaven in a single note. (James 1:17) Of course, no one but her parents could believe it. Regardless, God knew Leigh’s purpose and that she would need an instrument to glorify Him, so He gave her a voice to sing His praise.

For the next 16 years, Leigh was formally trained in singing and music at the fine arts high school in Greenville, at the Brevard Music Center, at Florida State University, and at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and Florence, Italy. Eventually, she returned to Florida State in Tallahassee to pursue a doctoral degree in Voice Performance and Vocal Pedagogy with a speciality in training young voices, which she completed in 1995.

Then, “Dr. Leigh”, as her students call her, opened her private vocal studio where she developed special techniques that enabled students of all ages to sing any style of music. With that, her love for pop music, playing the piano, and song writing re-emerged from her youth, and she joyfully began writing songs and recording them in her private recording studio.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of her incredibly talented husband Les, who Leigh admiringly refers to as “the great wizard.” A highly trained and gifted musician, Les is an accomplished pianist, recording engineer, producer, and arranger who orchestrated and played the instrumentals on many of Leigh’s original songs.

Married for 25 years, Leigh and Les reside in Tallahassee, Florida with their rescue dog “Jeri.” They are the proud parents of a blended family, including a daughter, a son, a daughter-in-law, a God-daughter, and three precious God-grandchildren. Of course, Leigh boasts of being a “second mom” to many of the amazing students she has taught throughout the years and considers them to be her beloved sons and daughters in Christ.

She considers her life to be blessed beyond measure

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