Famed opera star Isabel Leonard will join forces with multiple Grammy Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin for a program of Spanish music at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. EST.

The Argentine-American singer will be returning to the concert hall after performing back in 2013. Back then, her program included Latin American repertoire, but half of the program also included works by American composers.

"Carnegie Hall is one of the foremost iconic performing venues in New York City. As a native New Yorker, performing at Carnegie always carries with it a mixed bag of emotions," Leonard stated about performing in the venue during an exclusive interview with Latin Post. "Absolute joy on one end and total trepidation on the other. So many great artists have graced that hall and I feel the responsibility to uphold their standards."

For this return, Leonard, a former winner of the Richard Tucker Award and a Metropolitan Opera staple, will feature songs by Enrique Granados, Federico Garcia Lorca, Isaac Albeniz, Joaquin Rodrigo and Manuel de Falla among others.

"Latin music is very much a part of who I am," Leonard stated. "This recital will now come from a different angle because it is voice and guitar rather than piano. That means that the nature of the recital changes from soloist to duo and this in turn opens up new repertoire."

Leonard and Isbin struck up a partnership a few years ago and has seen the two collaborate on many recitals.

"Sharon Isbin has been one of my favorite classical guitarists long before I had a place in this business," Leonard noted about first meeting with Isbin. "When I realized we are both under the same management, it seemed like fate!"

Leonard noted that from the beginning the two have done tremendously detailed work and have developed a strong rapport on stage. After the Carnegie Hall recital, the two are slated to perform the program in two cities in Illinois - Urbana and Chicago.

One of the interesting features of this recital is that it will feature the world premiere of a piece by American composer Richard Danielpour. The piece in question is entitled "Of Love and Longing" and it was commissioned by Carnegie Hall.

"It was the perfect opportunity for all of us to join forces! I love singing new works," Leonard revealed about how the piece wound up on her recital. "I had never had the opportunity to work with Richard before and when Carnegie mentioned he would be writing a new commission I thought it would be the perfect addition to the program Sharon and I have been performing."

Leonard recently released "Preludios," an album dedicated to Latin American music. It is her first solo album for Delos and the singing-actress noted that she never had any doubt the kind of music she would put on record.

"This album is a record of all the Spanish music I learned and performed first in my life," she noted. "In regards to the choosing of repertoire, at that point in time, all of the Spanish repertoire that I had been working on was the perfect length for a CD."

On that album she worked alongside noted pianist Brian Zeger. Zeger, the Artistic Director of Juilliard's Marcus Institute of Vocal Arts, has worked with such major opera stars as Anna Netrebko, Susan Graham, Rene Pape, Adrianne Pieczonka, Piotr Beczala, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Bryn Terfel and Joyce DiDonato among others.

For Leonard, working with Zeger on her first recording was fulfilling as he was more than just an accompanist.

"Brian has been my teacher, mentor and friend," she explained. "Recording with him was the most positive combination of all those relationships.

"We had a great time and I really enjoyed working and making music with him at this level."

After her performances with Isbin, the Grammy Award-winning singer will head to Toronto for another recital at the Women's Musical Club of Toronto. Then she returns to New York to do seven performances as Rossina in "The Barber of Seville" at the Metropolitan Opera. Leonard's busy schedule continues with a recital in Tryon, North Carolina in January before she gets a few weeks of rest. In early February, the singer reprises the role of Ada Monroe in Jennifer Higdon's "Cold Mountain" before returning to the Met later that month for nine performances as Cherubino in Mozart's "Le Nozze Di Figaro." And then she reunites with Isbin in March for another recital, this time in Philadelphia.