Leo Zeitlin (Tseytlin) is one of the most important Russian Jewish composers to resurface, after decades of neglect, as a leading figure in the history of twentieth-century Jewish art music. Born in Pinsk (present-day Belarus), he studied first in Odessa and then at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he became actively involved in Jewish musical circles. After the Revolution in 1917, he worked in several cities across Eastern Europe before immigrating to the United States, where he was involved in performing and arranging for a New York “picture palace” (an enormous movie theater) and early radio broadcasts, while continuing to compose his own music.