Stephen Leek

[1] After graduating in 1984 with a double degree majoring in Cello Performance and Composition,[1] Leek moved to Sydney, where he free-lanced as a cellist and as a composer – getting more work as a music copyist than anything else in the initial stages.

In 2009 he left this position to fulfill to a greater capacity his hectic freelance schedule of commissions, workshops, residencies, teaching and conducting engagements, as Vice President on the Board of the International Federation for Choral Music, and freelanced as a choral conductor and teacher across the world including China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Canada, Singapore, Finland, Hungary and in the US.

[6] In 2004, his composition die dunkle Erde was commissioned by the Brisbane Writers Festival and in 2006 was selected by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to represent Australia at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris.

[7] Based on texts by the contemporary Brisbane-based indigenous poet Samuel Wagan Watson, the work is scored for speaker, didgeridoo and voices.

In 2005 Leek was Composer in Residence at the Marktoberdorf Musik Akademy in Bavaria, Germany, and guest conductor with the acclaimed Formosa Choir in concerts in Taiwan.

In 2006, Leek presented workshop sessions and concerts throughout Australia and overseas including the Australian National Conference of Orff Schulwerk.

In 2007 he fulfilled numerous commissions and undertook several guest conducting positions around the world including work and concerts with The Taiwan National Youth Choir.