Henry Leck, Founder and Artistic Director- Indianapolis
Children's Choir, Director of Choral Activities
An internationally recognized choral director, Henry Leck is an
associate professor and director of choral activities at Butler
University in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1986 he became founder and
artistic director of the Indianapolis Children's Choir, one of the
largest children's choir programs in the world. The touring choirs
of the Indianapolis Children's Choir have performed regularly for
national ACDA, MENC, OAKE and AOSA Conferences. Additionally, the
ICC tours internationally every year and has sung in prestigious
concert sites throughout Great Britain, Greece, Spain, Scandinavia,
Central Europe, South America, Latin America, North America,
Australia, New Zealand and China. In 2004, the touring choir
performed in the Czech Republic and Russia, recording live with the
Moscow Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Leck recently arranged and conducted
the national anthem for Kelly Clarkson and the Indianapolis
Children's Choir at the Super Bowl XLVI.
Mr. Leck founded the Indiana All-State Children's Honor Choir
and the Indiana Middle/Junior High School Honor Choir, and 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
the ACDA Southern, Southwest, North Central, Central, and Northwest
Honors Choirs. In 2014 he will be conducting the Western Division
Children's Honor Choir. In the spring of 2003, he conducted the
ACDA National Junior High/Middle School Honor Choir in New York
City and on three occasions has conducted National Honor Choirs for
OAKE. In 2011 Mr. Leck conducted the ACDA National Children's Honor
Choir. Also 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 Bulgarian women's
choir, Bulgarian folk instruments and the National Philharmonic
Orchestra. For ten years Mr. Leck was the Artistic Director of the
Pacific Rim Festival in Hawaii. For twenty-one years, he has
conducted the National Youth Choral Festival in Carnegie Hall. Mr.
Leck has conducted many international festivals including the
Musica Mundi Tuscany Children's Choir Festival in Montecatini,
Florence and Rome, Italy, the Central European International
Children's Choral Festival, the International Children's Choir
Festival in Beijing, China and the Vienna Children's & Boys
Choir Festival with the Vienna Sangerknaben. 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 that he conducts every other
year. He recently conducted the Tokyo International HS Honor Choir
in Japan. Mr. Leck has served as a clinician for the Australian
National Choral Association and the Royal School of Church Music.
For more than twenty years he has conducted a festival with David
Flood at Canterbury Cathedral. Mr. Leck recently was selected as
the US Jurist for the 1st Xinghai Prize International Choir
Championships and was an international lecturer for the
International Symposium on children and youth choral music in
Guangzhou, China.
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 videos titled
Vocal Techniques for the Young Singer, The Boy's
Expanding Voice: Take the High Road and 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 also the editor of two
nationally known choral series published by Hal Leonard Corporation
and Colla Voce, Inc./Plymouth. Each year he teaches his conductor's
workshop entitled Creating Artistry at Butler University. He has
recently written a textbook titled, Creating Artistry through
Choral Excellence.
In 2007, Mr. Leck received the prestigious Indiana Governor's
Art Award, the highest state honor that can be received in the
arts. He was also awarded the Indiana Creative Arts Fellowship
Renewal Grant that same year. He received the Cultural Vision Award
from Nuvo magazine. He was named the "Outstanding University Music
Educator of the Year" by the IMEA in 1992. Mr. Leck is certified as
a Kodály instructor and is an active member of ACDA, OAKE, MENC,
AOSA and Pi Kappa Lambda. Mr. Leck received his training from the
University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, the University of Colorado
and Indiana University.
(317) 940-9633
hleck@butler.edu