Graeme Leak, music maker
​height: 175cm
 
Biography
​for full Curriculum Vitae please scroll down
Graeme Leak String Quartet 1996 with Jane Fisher, Tim Dargaville and Phil McLeod
GRAEME LEAK STRING QUARTET with Jane Fisher, Tim Dargaville and Phil McLeod Victorian Arts Centre Melbourne, 1996

I work as a performer, composer, music director and instrument maker both solo and in collaboration with professional and community performers in Australia and the UK. 

Soundcheck, Spaghetti Western Orchestra 2011
Soundcheck, Spaghetti Western Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall 2011

My performing career highlights include 10 years of international touring as a co-creator of The Spaghetti Western Orchestra with productions at the Montreal Jazz Festival and the Royal Albert Hall; premiering over 100 newly commissioned solo and ensemble works with contemporary music groups Flederman and Synergy in the 90s; extensive touring of solo recitals and original shows such as From Africa to the Kitchen SinkGraeme Leak String Quartet and The Lab (with Linsey Pollak); and glockenspiel soloist in From the Canyons to the Stars at the Sydney Opera House in 1988 in the presence of the composer, Olivier Messiaen.​

Graeme conducting his Finale at the 2006 Commonwealth Games

I have written over 50 works for instruments and voices, including commissions for the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2013 Canberra Centenary. My recent works include Spirit Rising (2018) for string-can orchestra and The Exquisite Now (2019) for groups of any number for Museums Victoria.

Girgarre Junkestra 2018
Girgarre Junkestra 2018

As a music leader I devise productions that involve a mix of composing, devising and instrument making with groups of all ages, skill levels and from all walks of life. Events include Raising the Roof (2012) with 300 diverse participants for Arts Centre Melbourne and, since 2017, an ongoing artistic association with the small town of Girgarre, Victoria. I helped to create a tin-can orchestra known as Junkestra together with Girgarre instrument makers and long-time collaborator Patrick Cronin.

Tourists playing the Musical Fence, Winton, Qld 2013
Tourists playing the Musical Fence, Winton, Qld 2013

I am well known as the creator of the outback Queensland town of Winton’s interactive installation, The Musical Fence (2003). The playable wire fence with overhead acoustic resonators and accompanying junk percussion park, with a wonderful Bush Drum Kit by David Murphy, has become a popular tourist attraction.

I have devised and produced one off special events in Australia for Melbourne Recital Centre, the Melbourne FestivalTen Days on the Island Tasmania, the Queensland Music Festival and in the UK for the Watford Colosseum, Cornerstone Arts Centre and East Neuk Festival.

​My latest show SAVED, built around rescued 70s home organs, premiered at the 2021 Edinburgh Fringe Festival as part of the Made in Scotland program. 

 

download biography here | download Curriculum Vitae here