Lyndell Leatherman was born in southeast Kansas, the son of a minister. He began piano lessons at age eight, studying with his mother, Wilma, an accomplished church musician. Later, while attending Olivet Nazarene University, Kankakee, Illinois, he was privileged to study piano with Stephen Nielson and organ with Ovid Young, two professors who subsequently teamed up to form the concert duo known worldwide as Nielson and Young. After completing his degree in Church and Choral Music at ONU in 1975, he continued with graduate studies in Theory and Composition at Illinois State University, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, studying primarily with Roque Cordero.

For the past 26 years, Lyndell has been deeply involved in church music publishing. He was Music Editor at Lillenas Publishing Company, Kansas City, Missouri, for 20 years (1977-1997) where he was heavily involved in the development of the “Sing to the Lord” hymnal and its companion orchestration. Also, while at Lillenas, he oversaw the keyboard music division.

Since 1997, he has enjoyed freelancing as an arranger, orchestrator, performer, lecturer, and editor. A member of ASCAP, he has placed choral, keyboard, and instrumental arrangements in the catalogs of seven major church music publishers. In 2002, he was named Sacred Music Editor for The FJH Music Company Inc.

In addition to his publishing interests, Lyndell has served in some capacity in a local church since the age of 13, either as an organist, pianist, or music director. He is currently assisting as pianist and instrumental coordinator at First Church of the Nazarene of Kansas City.

His family includes his wife, Barbie--also a musician as well as an artist--and three grown children.