About

A Brief Musical Bio

Michael Leake (Mike to his friends) began playing the guitar at age 11 and picked up piano at 17 and bass guitar later. The Beatles were a huge and lasting early influence, setting the bar high for quality and versatility in an aspiring musician. By his late teens, he found himself a lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and pianist in a rock band, co-founded with a friend, and wrote a great deal of music for that genre. After band members went their separate creative ways a few years later, he began performing as a solo musician and vocalist. Desiring to expand his piano technique, he began to explore classical piano, carefully breaking down and analyzing pieces he admired. As a result of coursework in music history at the University of New Mexico, his already keen interest in classical music--a term used loosely here to encompass the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods--was deepened. To this day, music from the Romantic Era (roughly 1830 - 1900) remains his favorite classical period, especially the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky--a Russian master of heartfelt melody and creative orchestration. About the same period of time he was tabbed to write the music for a traditional stage musical, as a coworker knew someone who had written the “book” for a musical as part of a graduate school project, including some possible lyrics for a handful of songs, but the writer lacked a composer--an essential element for any musical. Research for this project quickly brought an appreciation for much of the Broadway music from decades long past and a genuine admiration was born for Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, Richard Rodgers, Jerry Herman, and many others. After a couple of months, a full musical stage production was born. In more recent years, he undertook a study of orchestration, analyzing scores and experimenting with the full orchestral palette, combining timbres and colors for best effect. He has been actively involved in creating orchestral pieces, large and small, in his home recording studio for over a decade. Through it all, music and composing have been his passion. He writes music in a variety of styles, from lush orchestral grandeur to simple atmospheric and background pieces. He has a very large library of high quality orchestral and other sound samples at his disposal to produce a wide range of music in a variety of styles.

Composer

Michael Leake

About

A Brief Musical Bio

Michael Leake (Mike to his friends) began playing the guitar at age 11 and picked up piano at 17 and bass guitar later. The Beatles were a huge and lasting early influence, setting the bar high for quality and versatility in an aspiring musician. By his late teens, he found himself a lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and pianist in a rock band, co-founded with a friend, and wrote a great deal of music for that genre. After band members went their separate creative ways a few years later, he began performing as a solo musician and vocalist. Desiring to expand his piano technique, he began to explore classical piano, carefully breaking down and analyzing pieces he admired. As a result of coursework in music history at the University of New Mexico, his already keen interest in classical music grew. To this day, Romantic Era composers Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Chopin remain favorites, especially Pyotr Tchaikovsky--a Russian master of heartfelt melody and creative orchestration. About the same period of time he was tabbed to write the music for a traditional stage musical, as a coworker knew someone who had written the “book” for a musical as part of a graduate school project, including some possible lyrics for a handful of songs, but the writer lacked a composer--an essential element for any musical. Research for this project quickly brought an appreciation for much of the Broadway music from decades long past and a genuine admiration was born for Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, Richard Rodgers, Jerry Herman, and many others. After a couple of months, a full musical stage production was born. In more recent years, he undertook a study of orchestration and has been actively involved in creating orchestral pieces in his home recording studio. Through it all, his main passion has been composing. He writes music in a variety of styles, from lush orchestral grandeur to simple atmospheric and background pieces. He has a very large library of high quality orchestral and other sound samples at his disposal to produce a wide range of music in a variety of styles.