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PLAYING
SAVED, Scotland 2020
SAVED
SAVED is my new solo show built around retro-tech in which the mundane and the ordinary transform into a hypnotic and magical world. more >>
Spaghetti Western Orchestra
The Spaghetti Western Orchestra began as The Ennio Morricone Experience in Melbourne. It went on to international acclaim, touring the UK, Europe, the US, Asia and Australia .. more>>
LEADING
Raising the Roof, Melbourne 2012
Girgarre Junkestra
We made instruments and put on a grand show to open the SoundShell in 2018. In 2019 we played in Melbourne and in 2020 we appeared on national TV. more >>
Rhythm Orchestra
RHYTHM ORCHESTRA improves and hones skills in rhythm – pulse – meter – polyrhythm – odd time and more. more >>
East Neuk BIG PROJECT 2020
We were all set to make instruments from collected rubbish for a FANTASTIC PLASTIC BAND to lead the annual Sea Queen Parade in Fife. Sadly this event was cancelled due to Covid-19. more >>
MAKING
parts to make a thumb piano
String Cans
These unique one-string instruments allow beginners to play music together much more easily than ukes and guitars. more >>
Make and Play workshops
In a MAKE and PLAY workshop participants make an instrument then play it in an ensemble. This can happen in a single session or over several sessions. more >>
COMPOSING
feather & marmite ink pot, 2019
Spirit Rising
This unique work for the Girgarre Junkestra was mostly taught by ear. Find a video of the show and some sample score pages here. more >>
The Exquisite Now
Commissioned by Museums Victoria in partnership with the Arts Learning Festival, The Exquisite Now premiered in May 2019. more >>
Music by Graeme Leak
Scores for sale in the gbay shop. Scroll down to the bottom for a complete list of works. more >>
Listen…
Apparently, as a toddler, I used to ask my parents if they could hear the music in the cars. Experiencing the environment as music provides an endless wellspring of inspiration that permeates all of my work. Whether performing, directing massed performances, building instruments and installations, leading a workshop or composing, I aim to open ears and eyes to the joy, beauty and power of music.
Excerpt from soundtrack to ‘The Corridor’, 2005 Dance-Music-Theatre work by David Wells, with music by GL. String cans, drum samples and tambourine.
A Jackdaw on the Amplified Fence, an Eco Opera instrument-installation, 2020
Music or Noise?
The difference between music and noise… says the 50’s American scientist on the Physics of Musical Sounds tape …is whether we like it or not. I am fascinated by how we judge sound as either pleasing or jarring to the ear and by the fact that over time we become more accepting of ‘jarring’ sounds. Beethoven’s audience stormed out of first performances of his works. Beatles fans were appalled at the newest releases. Today’s audiences are still appalled at Schoenberg 100 years after he re-wrote the rules of harmony. There is melody, harmony, dissonance, noise, discord, rhythm and myriad other musics playing all around us when we stop and listen.
Girgarre Junkestra string-can rehearsal 8 Feb 2018
String Cans: Des Crichton, Val Maudsley, John Warde and GL
Instruments
String Can, St Albans 2016
We need new acoustic instruments. Why is it that the saxophone (1840) is the last new instrument to have ‘made it’ into mainstream (Western) art music? The evolution of acoustic musical instruments, so active and continuous since the stone-age, has almost ground to a halt. Is this because electronics and computers have taken centre stage? Has the exploration of vibrating strings, skin, wood and columns of air been overshadowed by electronics and programming?
Fence and Triangle, Winton Town Fence Band 2003
Fence: Pinky Mutton, Mary Pearce, Stephanie Greenwood, Rosie Archer, Rebecca Crap, Milton Taylor, Toni Wilmott, Barb Howard, Karen Stockham, Joan Evert
Triangle and Conductor: GL
Cinema took a body blow with the arrival of video but has bounced back with a new and robust relationship to digital technology. Instrument making is still suffering from the mass exodus from workshops to office chairs. It will recover and new instruments will be heard. It can be so simple, so beautiful, and mostly free!
MUSIC or NOISE? short audio work, 2005
ten-pin bowls, conduit whistles, amplified cactus and flying harmonica
RAISING the ROOF concert excerpt, Hamer Hall 2012, composed and conducted GL.
featuring Chao Feng Chinese Orchestra, Drum Nation, Kew Band Melbourne, La Voce Della Luna, MASSIVE Hip Hop Choir, Melbourne Mass Gospel Choir, Melbourne Ukulele Kollective, Mesopotamia Group, SKIN Choir and the AUDIENCE.
CREATIVE PRODUCER: Patrick Cronin STAGE DESIGNER: Darryl Cordell CHOREOGRAPHER: Bec Reid LX DESIGN: Niklas Pajanti