Past Artistic Directors

Stephen Leek (Artistic Director 1997–2009)

In 1993 Stephen Leek was joint founder and from 1997 – 2009 Artistic Director of The Australian Voices.

As a composer, Leek’s distinctive music is immediately recognizable, capturing the enigmas, rhythms, colours and ethos of Australia. He has had a vital influence on the development of Australian choral composition and performance on the international stage.

In recent years Leek’s activities have included Composer-in-Residence at the Marktoberdorf Musik Akademy in Germany and Guest Conductor with such acclaimed ensembles as Gondwana Voices and The Taiwan National Youth Choir in 2008 he was guest composer at the Sun Music Festival in Riga, Latvia, a juror at the World Choir Games in Austria. In 2004, his work die dunkle Erde was selected by the ABC to represent Australia at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris.

Leek has recently taken up a position on the Board of the International Federation of Choral Music.

Graeme Morton (Artistic Director 1993–6)

As Co-Founder and first Artistic Director of The Australian Voices, Graeme Morton has helped establish a new awareness of Australian choral music.

Morton is one of Australia’s eclectic choral musicians, with a wealth of experience as a conductor, teacher, composer and broadcaster of choral music, and as an organist. He is Director of Music at St Peters Lutheran College, where he is founder and conductor of the St Peters Chorale, now in its twenty-sixth year.

Morton also directs the Lucian Singers at Christ Church Anglican Church and the Brisbane Chamber Choir, and is particularly keen to find interesting new works to bring to his singers and audiences. To this end he has commissioned many of the pieces that have become Australian choral classics – including Past Life Melodies and Ngana

Morton hosts a weekly radio programme of choral Music titled The Choir Room on radio 4MBS at 10.00pm on Tuesday evenings and 12.30pm on Sundays (103.7).

Morton holds a Master of Music (Organ) from the University of Queensland. He is a Churchill Fellow and a recipient of a Prime Minister’s Medal.