Conductor
Professor
Composer
Editor
Clinician
Henry Leck Bio
An internationally recognized choral director, Henry Leck is a professor emeritus in choral music at Butler University, where he served on the faculty for 27 years. He is the Founder and Conductor Laureate of the Indianapolis Children’s Choir where he served for 30 years.
Founder and Conductor Laureate – Indianapolis Children’s Choir
Professor Emeritus – Choral Music – Butler University
Artistic Director – Music for All – Choral
Mr. Leck is the founding conductor of the Indiana Children’s Allstate Honor Choir and the Indiana Middle School Honor Choir. He conducted each ensemble for three years and returned to conduct the children’s honor choir in 2016 for the fourth time. Mr. Leck has conducted Mixed, Men’s, Women’s, Junior High, and Children’s All-State choirs and festival choirs in nearly every state. He is a frequent conductor of regional and national honor choirs, including all the ACDA regions. In 2003, he conducted the ACDA National Junior High/Middle School Honor Choir in New York City and in 2011, the ACDA National Children’s Honor Choir in Chicago. On three occasions, he has conducted National Honor Choirs for OAKE. In 2011 Mr. Leck conducted the premiere performance of a seven-movement oratorio entitled “Melancholy Beauty” written by Bulgarian composer Georgi Andreev in Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center with adult choruses, children’s choir (ICC), Bulgarian women’s choir, Bulgarian folk instruments, and the National Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2018 he also conducted the European premiere of this work in Bulgaria. For nearly 30 years, he has conducted National Youth Choral Festivals in Carnegie Hall annually. In 2016 Mr. Leck was named Artistic Director of the Music for All National Choir Festival which is held annually in Indianapolis. Mr. Leck has conducted many international festivals including the Musica Mundi Tuscany Children’s Choir Festival in Italy, the Central European International Children’s Choral Festival, the Pacific Rim Festival, the International Children’s Choir Festival in Beijing, China, the Vienna Children’s & Boys Choir Festival with the Vienna Sangerknaben, and the Festival Internacional de Coro de Ninos en Mexico. He is a regular festival conductor for KI Concerts having done festivals in Spain, Austria, Canada, Ireland, and Italy. He has conducted many times in Brazil, including the Curso Internacional de Regencia Coral in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil where he founded the ARCI Sao Paulo Children’s Honor Choir. He has conducted the Tokyo International High School Honor Choir in Japan and in the summer of 2017 conducted the International Children’s Choir Festival in Yokohama. For more than twenty-five years he has conducted an international festival annually with David Flood at Canterbury Cathedral. He recently has taught at the American International School in The Hague, Netherlands, and the Libera Università di Bolzano in Italy. He recently has served as an artist in residence at both the Singapore American School and the Bangkok International School. He has served as the U.S. Jurist for the 1st Xinghai Prize International Choir Championships and as an international lecturer for the International Symposium on children and youth choral music in Guangzhou, China. In 2013 he was a US jurist in Malta, in 2014, a jurist at the World Choir Games in Riga, Latvia, and in 2015 was a jurist at the Musica Sacra a Roma.
Mr. Leck has received many honors including the Sagamore of the Wabash and the State of Indiana Distinguished Hoosier Award. He and the choir received the Indiana Governor’s Arts Award, which is the highest honor one can receive in the arts in Indiana. Recently Mr. Leck was named a recipient of the Lowell Mason Fellows Award which is the highest award given, by the National Association for Music Education. He was named Outstanding Hoosier Musician in 2016 by IMEA. He is a recipient of the NUVO Lifetime Achievement Award and the Indiana Historical Society Indiana Living Legend Award. He recently was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from Chorus America.
Mr. Leck is widely known as a specialist in choral techniques, the child’s voice, Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Laban, and the boy’s changing voice. He has produced four teaching DVDs titled Vocal Techniques for the Young Singer, The Boy’s Expanding Voice: Take the High Road, Creating Artistry through Movement, Dalcroze Eurhythmics, and Creating Artistry with the Male Maturing Voice. He was a lead author for the choral textbook series published by McGraw Hill/Glencoe titled Experiencing Choral Music and is the lead author of a newer series of textbooks entitled Voices in Concert. He is also the editor of two nationally known choral series published by Hal Leonard Corporation and Colla Voce, Inc. He has written a textbook titled, Creating Artistry through Choral Excellence. Mr. Leck received his training from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, the University of Colorado, and Indiana University.