Stephen Leek Biography
Composer, Conductor, Educator, Publisher, Artistic Director

Stephen Leek is a major and important figure in the development of choral music, music in the community and educational music in Australia. His own distinctive music is immediately recognizable, capturing the drama, rhythms, colours and essence of Australia. He has been accredited with having made a significant impact on and a major contribution to the development of Australian choral composition and performance and how that has been promoted and discussed throughout the world over the past 40 years.

“If one were to dream about an ideal way for Australian choral music to truly make its mark, one might:
Ø  Firstly, focus on developing a body of choral repertoire that tells the world about the perspective and concerns of our place and our time, and encourage the development of compositional skills that articulate this perspective with clarity and nuance;
Ø  Secondly, develop the musical skills and the experience in young singers to articulate and realise this repertoire, giving it a life, with enthusiasm, joy, vigour, clarity, and above all, with the utmost musicality and rigour;
Ø  Thirdly, provide the singers with an experience that will significantly impact on their lives, and provide audiences with a rich, meaningful, and above all, entertaining experience;
Ø  Fourthly, perform often, at home and away, in a variety of contexts, directly communicating with audiences;
Ø  And lastly, continue to motivate, enthuse, excite, stimulate, and challenge, always aiming high, never faltering, and truly setting a benchmark for others to emulate.

But wait a minute! This already exists, and has existed for 15 years! In Stephen Leek and The Australian Voices! How blessed are we in this country to claim them as our own?”

John Davis – Chief Executive Officer, The Australian Music Centre Limited

Born in Sydney in 1959, Stephen Leek is an extensively commissioned freelance composer, freelance conductor, educator and publisher. Teaching sessional Composition and Improvisation at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, 1991until 2009 Leek, resigned from this position in order to develop further his already hectic free-lance schedule of commissions, workshops and guest appearances and to take up a non-remunerative position on the Board of the International Federation of Choral Music – a project of UNESCO. He was then Vice President of the IFCM from 2011 until 2017 where he was central to the development of important choral projects around the world. A pioneer in developing composer residencies in Australia, Leek’s involvement with numerous choral and music groups at every level of accomplishment has had vital influence on the history of Australian choral music.

“Luminary is not an exaggeration when applied to Stephen Leek. His music is published, performed and recorded in many countries of the world. His name is well-known among many thousands of people, not all of them seasoned musicians. He has influenced the lives of many young Australians…. Only a relatively small percentage of Australia’s many composers might boast such a profile, yet books on Australian music – even the more recent ones – have ignored Leek’s work, or at best, passed it of in one or two sentences.”
Dr Helen Lancaster – Music Council of Australia

In Australia he has been Composer in Residence to numerous leading organisations such as the Sydney Children’s Choir / Gondwana Choirs, The St Peters Chorale, the National Music Camps Association of Australia (AYO), and the Eltham East Primary School Choir, all ensembles that have defined new directions and pathways for Australian music. Leek has also been widely commissioned here and abroad with some of the most recent commissions including The Australian Voices (AUS), The Glen Ellen Children’s Choir (USA), The Adelaide Chorale (AUS), Eltham East Primary School Choir (AUS), SongBridge 2000 (Netherlands), Gondwana Choirs (AUS), the San Francisco Girls Chorus (USA), Taipei Male Choir (Taiwan), Sydney Male Choir (AUS)  Kamer Choir  – World Sun Songs Project (Latvia) Singapore Chamber Choir (Singapore) to name but a few. Having worked extensively at all levels of Australian and international music-making, Leek has devoted much of his working life to generating workshops and repertoire that stimulates, excites and challenges the very youngest performers to seasoned professionals, putting performance practises and skills in place to enable all ages and skills levels to interpret, understand and appreciate the unique qualities of his music and other Australian composers. 

“There exists an unspoken prejudice among certain professional musicians – composers, performers, critics, administrators, funding bodies – against music written for amateurs. Most believe that sort of activity to be beneath their dignity; some performers, (like actors) regard it as a risk to been seen and heard in the company of amateurs (and children and animals); critics and journalists, similarly, prefer not to be associated without the big names. For this reason Stephen Leek is not as widely known as he should be. Of course, Leek may have the last laugh, because there is a new generation of young musicians in Australia that would probably mention him first when asked to name a living composer. Leek doesn’t compose exclusively for amateurs, but it seems to be his preferred domain. Certainly he is expert at it, and the result of such expertise is to transcend the amateur tag altogether. Like Orff, Britten and Maxwell Davies – to name only three – Leek writes music for his young performers that is in the first place challenging, but soon turns out to be exceptionally grateful to sing; the difficulties can be overcome. And, like the other three composers’ music for non-professionals, Leeks’ sound more technically difficult than it really is. In other words, choirs do this music because it makes them sound good, and that’s not a bad reason.”  

Andrew Ford – Composer, Broadcaster, Commentator

From 1989 – 1996, with his improvisational vocal group vOiCeArT, Stephen Leek confronted the Australian music world head-on by throwing out wild challenges to the mainstream about the notion and practices of choral singing. In 1993 he was joint founder, and from 1997 – 2009 Artistic Director/Conductor, of The Australian Voices, an elite ensemble of young adult singers who, through their motivated commitment to the work of Australian composers, have significantly challenged and changed the landscape of choral music in Australia and taken Australian music to the most prestigious festivals and events around the globe. During this time along with the Australian Voices he mentored and commissioned hundreds of new works from emerging choral composers such as Matthew Orlovich, Paul Stanhope, Dan Walker, Katie Abbott to name but a few. He was also committed to the performance and recording of the forgotten music of more established Australian composers.

 “Stephen Leek is one of the finest choral trainers in the world. His international reputation as a composer, conductor and teacher places him truly in the elite level of Australian musicians in the international scene.” 

Graham Abbott – Conductor, Music Educator and Broadcaster

Among Stephen Leek’s array of personal accolades is the award in 2003 of the highly prestigious Robert Edler International Prize for Choral Music that he received in Darmstadt, Germany. Cited by an international jury for his ‘decisive influence’ on both the Australian music scene and the international choral community as a composer and conductor, Leek has been admitted into the pantheon of leading choral composers and conductors worldwide alongside Conductors Freider Bernius, Karmina Selic, Maria Guinaund and institutions such as the World Youth Choir. He has won numerous other national and international awards for his music including several Sounds Australian Awards, and in 2004, his work “die dunkle Erde” was selected by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to represent Australia at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. In 2013 he was again awarded the APRA-AMC National Vocal / Choral Work of the Year.

“The enormous range of Stephen Leek’s choral activities and the extraordinary quality of his composition work have made him one of the most interesting and promising of the rising generation of composers in the world today.”  Dir. Dolf Rabus,  International Federation of Choral Music, Director – Marktoberdorf International Chamber Choir Competition, Germany 

In recent years Leek’s activities have expanded more on the international scene which have included Composer in Residence at the Marktoberdorf Musik Akademy, Germany; Guest Conductor with the acclaimed Formosa Singers, Taiwan, The Crystal Choir, USA, Composer NOT in Residence with Choral Artists of San Francisco, and, Guest Conductor with the Singapore Ministry of Education, The Taiwan National Youth Choir, The Crystal Choir in the USA, guest composer at the Sun Music Festival in Riga, Latvia, a juror at the World Choir Games in Austria, and presenter at numerous music, education and choral Conferences around the world. He was also Artistic Director / Conductor of the Shanghai Youth Choir for several years. His list of national and international commissions now reads like a list of “Who’s Who” of choral music. With his work regularly being performed by choirs and primarily amateur organisations around the world, Leek is arguably one of the most performed, yet largely ignored by the establishment in his own country. 

From 2017 – 2022, Leek took up the part-time role of Artistic Director / General Manager of the Young Music Society – an awarded, self-funded, non-profit, community-based organisation that celebrated 50 years in 2019. After a short stint in Tasmanian in 2022-23, he returned to live in Canberra, and then returned to live in South-East Queensland in 2024.

“Stephen Leek’s Uluru (from Great Southern Spirits) is one of the most compelling, electrifying new choral compositions I have heard.”  

Mark Gresham, Chorus! USA

Brief Biog for Programs

Freelance Australian Composer/Conductor Stephen Leek is a major and important figure in the development of Australian music, choral music, music in the community and educational music in Australia. He has had long associations with some of the finest and most innovative choirs around the world including Gondwana Voices (Australia), the Tapiola Children’s Choir (Finland), Kamer…Choir (Latvia), The Formosa Singers (Taiwan), and his own choirs, vOiCeArT and The Australian Voices, that he co-founded and conducted for 16 years until 2009.

As an educator, and with over a hundred impressive positions as Composer in Residence since the early 1980’s, Leek is widely recognised as a pioneer in developing models and opportunities for “residencies” for composers to work in school and community groups throughout Australia. Working through the Australian Music Centre, Leek instigated and developed several projects for schools, dance and theatre. These including the first catalogues of Australian music specifically for high school students that enabled engagement and study in Australian contemporary music, and resources to encourage Australian dance to explore Australian music in performance and in their studios.

As a composer he writes in his own distinctive contemporary style. His works have broad appeal and are performed regularly by a wide selection of choirs throughout the world and has been commissioned by some of the leading choral groups world-wide. Having written 13 operas, numerous orchestral and chamber works, music for education and dance, yet Leek is often credited as the “founder of Australian choral music” through his commitment to the innovative development of Australian choral music over the past 4 decades and through his composition of over 700 innovative choral works which explore a uniquely “Australian” colour and texture.

A Churchill Fellow, Leek has received numerous national and international awards including the highly prestigious “Robert Edler International Choral Prize” for his contribution to the development of global choral music presented to him in Darmstaat, Germany. He has held many national and international positions including Vice President of the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM) from 2011 – 2017, and 2012/13, Artistic Director of the Shanghai Youth Choir and in 2015, Conductor of the Asia Pacific Youth Choir.

As a conductor, Leek has worked with many major internationally recognised and innovative choirs and continues to be in demand to work as guest conductor around the globe. He is a regular contributor, presenter and conductor at international events world-wide.

In recent years he has been the Artistic Director / General Manager of the Young Music Society – an awarded, self-funded, non-profit, community-based organisation that celebrated 50 years in 2019, from 2016 until 2022, whilst working sessionally within the Canberra Girls Grammar Music Academy. Leek continues to work around Australia and around the world as conductor and composer, but now resides in South-East Queensland.

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A Biographical Snapshot

Stephen John Leek
Freelance Composer / Conductor / Educator / ‘Cellist
Born Sydney 8 October 1959
Currently lives in South-East Queensland

Qualifications
B.A.(Music) Canberra School of Music (1979 – 1983) Double degree in Composition and Cello Performance
Forty plus (40+) years of experience as a full-time practicing professional composer, conductor, educator and publisher
Note: Although primarily a freelance artist for his entire working life, Stephen Leek has held various part and permanent sessional positions throughout his career and long associations with many leading organizations and institutions and has managed complex and creative organizations of his own making.

Major Awards and Recognition include:
Churchill Fellow
Robert Edler international Choral Prize for Contribution to Australian and Global choral music
Australia Council for the Arts Fellowship
APRA/AMCOS Australian Art Music Awards Choral/Vocal Work of the Year 2013
APRA/AMCOS Australian Art Music Award Best Music in the Community of the Year 2014
APRA/AMCOS Australian Art Music Award Regional Music Award 2015
National Sounds Australian Art Music Award for Best Choral Work (1991)
National Sounds Australian Art Music Award for the Most Distinguished Contribution to Australian Music by an Individual (1991)
Australian Centenary of Federation Medal (2001)
First Place, Australian National Cello Competition (1983)
First Prize Winner, The Inaugural Australian Opera Prize
“die dunkle erde” selected to represent Australia at the Paris Rostrum
Sunnie Award for Best Recording (QLD)
and others…

Major Positions Held

Tasmanian Dance Company, Composer / Musician in Residence 1994 – 1996

ArtsNow Australia, (voluntary)
Founder / Director

South Queensland Creative Music Schools,
(several) Director

North Queensland Creative Music Schools,
(several) Director

World’s Greatest Choirs Festival,
Director

Australian National Choral Association,
National Council Member
Board Member

vOiCeArT (voluntary)
Founder, 1989
Director, 1989 – 1996

The Australian Voices (mostly voluntary)
Co-Founder 1993
Manager 1993 – 1996
Artistic Director / Conductor 1997 – 2009
Director Australian Voices Festivals 1994 – 2009
Commissioner of over 100 music compositions
Director TAV Young Composers and Conductors Schools (several)
Director Australian Voices Festivals (several)
Conductor of hundreds of concert performances of Australian music throughout the world
Conductor of hundreds of workshops with choirs and community groups throughout Australia and around the world

Sydney Children’s Choir / Gondwana Choirs 1986 –
Gondwana International Ambassador
Conductor
Workshop Leader
Composer

Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University
Lecturer in Composition 1991 – 2009
Lecturer in Improvisation 1996 – 2009

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Performing Arts School, Brisbane
Inaugural Music Teacher / Curriculum Developer

Melbourne Conservatorium of Music
Lecturer in Choral Direction 2015 – present

Canberra School of Music, Australian National University
Visiting Lecturer in Composition

Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide
Visiting Lecturer in Composition

Brisbane City Council (voluntary)
Member Arts Advisory Committee

Australian Music Centre (voluntary)
Member 1984 – present
Former Board Member
Former Chair of Education Committee

Australian Music Council of Australia (voluntary)
Former Board Member
Former Member of the Education Committee

International Federation for Choral Music (voluntary)
Member 1996 – present
Board Member 2008 – 2018
Vice President 2012 – 2018
Artistic Executive Officer – World Choral EXPO Macau

Shanghai Youth Choir
Artistic Director / Conductor

Shanghai Boys Choir
Artistic Director / Conductor

Young Music Society inc.
Artistic Director / General Manager 2016 – 2023
President 2024

Major Australian Composer Residencies include:

St Peter Lutheran College 1988 – 1996
National Music Camps of Australia 1991- 92
Sydney Grammar School 1988
Brisbane Grammar School 1990
Sydney Youth Orchestra 1991 – 1992
Alice Springs Singers
Sydney Childrens Choir 1996  –
Gondwana Choirs
Anglican Church Grammar School, Brisbane
Queensland Music Festival
Eltham East Primary School 1996 – 2018
Border Music Camps
Camp Creative Music Camps
Lismore Theatre Company
Music For Everyone, Canberra
Canberra International Music Festival
Goulburn Regional Conservatorium of Music
…. and hundreds of small residencies in public and private schools and in community groups throughout Australia

International Composer Residencies include:

Marktoberdorf Musik Academy, Germany
San Francisco Choral Artists, USA
Kamer… Choir, Latvia
Sun Songs Festival, Latvia
Songbridge Festival, The Netherlands
Ajax Choirs, Canada
Taipei American school, Taiwan
Shanghai Youth Choir, China
Singapore International School, Singapore
Golden Gate Choral Festival, USA
Tokyo International Choral Festival, Japan

Major Presentations include: (voluntary)

Australian National Choral Association Conferences (several)
Australian Choral Conductors and Teachers Conferences (several)
International Society for Music Education Conferences – USA, Australia, The
World Symposiums on Choral Music – Argentina, Australia, South Korea, The Netherlands,
Australian Society for Music Education Conferences (Several)
Kodaly Society of Australia Conferences
World Choir Games, Austria
World Choir Games, China
International Federation of Contemporary Music Conferences (several)
Australian Band and Orchestra Teachers Association Conferences
Australian Dance Festival
ComeOut Festival, Adelaide
World Choral Summit, Beijing, China
American Choral Directors Association Conventions, USA
Australian Orff Society National Conference
Hong Kong International Festival of Choral Music, Hong Kong
Australian Music Centre
COMA National Conference – London
Golden Gate Festival of Music, San Francisco, USA

Other Significant Conductor / Artistic Director roles include:

Shanghai Youth Choir (3 years)
Shanghai Boys Choir (3 Years)
Taiwan Festival Youth Choir (6 years)
Asia Pacific Youth Choir (2 years)
Taipei Male Choir
Out Loud and Proud Festival 2022
Sydney Children’s Choir Young Men’s Choir
World Choral EXPO, Macau (voluntary)
Executive Artistic Director
Asia Pacific Choral Council (voluntary)
Board Member
Young Music Society inc. Canberra
Tutor YMS Summer Music School 1990
Director YMS Summer Music School 1991
Director YMS Summer Music School 2017
Director YMS Summer Music School 2018
Director YMS Summer Music School 2019
Director YMS Summer Music School 2020

Adjudications include:

Sydney Eisteddfod
National China Choral Competition
World Choir Games – Austria
Japan National Choral Competition
Tokyo International Choral Composition Competition
International Federation for Choral Music Choral Composition Competition
Australian National Eisteddfod
Hong Kong International Choral Competition
APRA Art Music Awards

Major Publications include:

Voiceworks (a composition program for schools)
Ngana Kit (a music kit for high schools)
NEWMUSICNEWDANCE (a kit of new Australian music for dance companies)
NEWMUSICAUSTRALIA (a kit introducing new Australian music into the classroom)
A Millennium of Choral Music (a kit exploring the history of choral composition for schools)
Monthly Contributor, ComeOut Youth Arts
Editor – International Choral Bulletin
Editor – IFCM Choral Monthly

Commissions include: (but too numerous to mention all)

Sydney Youth Orchestra
St Peters Chorale
Adelaide Youth Orchestra
Queensland Youth Orchestra
Hunter Singers, Newcastle
Queensland Music Festival
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Southern Cross Soloists
Canberra Children’s Choir
Eltham East Primary School Choir
Melbourne University Early Childhood Research Centre
National Centenary of Federation Ceremony
Canberra Youth Theatre
ABC Classic Fm Radio
The New Theatre, Newtown
The Australian Voices
Contact Youth Theatre, Brisbane
Gondwana Voices
Kur-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra
Sydney Children’s Choir
The World Choir EXPO, Macau
IFCM World Symposium on Choral Music Opening Concert
Musica NOVA Festival
Carols in the Domain
Mersy Valley Festival, Tasmania
Tasmanian Arts Council
Sydney Male Choir
Brisbane Writers Festival
Australian Voices Ensemble AVE
Katie Noonan and Elixir
Launceston Repertory Society
San Francisco Girls Choir
Ray Martin Midday Show
Singapore Chamber Choir, Singapore
Marktoberdorf International Festival of Music, Germany
San Francisco Choral Artists, USA
Woden Valley Youth Choir, Australia
Glen Ellen Children’s Choir, USA
Tapiola Children’s Choir, Finland
St Peters Lutheran College
Kamer…choir, Latvia
Seymour Group
Japan International Choral Festival
Shanghai Youth Choir
Opera Queensland
Australia Council for the Arts Projects
The Formosa Singers, Taiwan
St Jacobs Chamber Choir, Sweden
Vilnius Music Festival, Lithuania
Guangzhou Children’s Palace Choir, China
Portsmouth Grammar School, UK
The Australia Ensemble
Hong Kong Treble Choir, Hong Kong
The Song Company, Australia
Musica Viva Australia, Australia
Bucks Central High School, USA
World Choral Summit, China
Adelaide Philharmonic, Australia
Australian Youth Choir, Australia
Birralee Voices, Australia
Australian Vocal Ensemble AVE

Past Students include:

Elliott Gyger
Antony Walker
Jared Choolun
Melody Eotvos
Julian Day
Kathryn Reeves
Katie Noonan
Chris Williams
Toby Wren
Emma Dean
and many, many others.

Other musicians who Leek as mentored

– through The Australian Voices and other educational projects include:
Dan Walker
Amelia Alder
Simon Hewett
Dr. Liam Viney
Dr. Matthew Orlovich
Dr. Paul Stanhope
Daniel Rojas
Sam Wagan-Watson
Gordon Hamilton
Damian Barbeler
Iain Grandage
Alex Turley
Katherine Kemp
Daniel Rojas
Simon Cobcroft
Seamus Kirkpatrick
William Barton
Patrick Baker
Alice Chance
Elizabeth Younan
Barnaby Hollingworth
John Rotar
Oliver Muller
and the list goes on…….

Discover more about the work and influence of Stephen Leek
Microsoft Word – MASTERS THESIS FINAL COLLATION.doc (acu.edu.au)

FOR MORE DETAILS PLEASE CONTACT THE COMPOSER