Brian Leach.
Musician - Maker - Composer
Brian Leach hammered dulcimer. Photo: Bram Versteeg.
Brian Leach - It's all about sound...
I am a Composer, Musician, and Maker excited by the cross over of ancient tradition and contemporary technology. My interdisciplinary approach encompasses musical instrument building, music, and sound art.
A fascination with new harmonies and timbres leads me to design and build one-of-a-kind musical instruments with unique character. I completed my studies in Musical Instrument Building at St. John’s Central College Cork in 2017. Drawing on a degree in Astrophysics, and a Masters in Music Technology, I design acoustic instruments with a solid scientific understanding, technical intuition, and an artist’s eye.
My creative practice involves public interaction with these new instruments, encouraging play and engagement with the works. I am currently performing with folk groups Lisa O'Neill and MacBóchra, while creating new instruments in my workshop Cork Guitars.
My innovative approach to instrument making is concentrated on Hammered Dulcimer and Uilleann Pipes. I built a Monochord which features in Natasha Bourke's "Kilter, Matter and Ghosts", Cork Midsummer Festival 2024. This year I produced the album "A Boy Named After a God Damn Tree" for American singer Lynden Graham. In June 2024 I will exhibit a sound installation at Laneway Gallery, Cork - an environmental sound compositions which comes alive at the moment of audience engagement - based on an Electro-Mechnical Gong which i developed in 2022 thanks to the Arts Council's Agility Award.
As a musician I have toured around the world with the groups: Lisa O Neill, The Underscore Orkestra, Torcán, and The Amadáns & Bodhráns. My compositions have been performed at the National Concert Hall, The Chelsea School of Art, Hearsay International Audio Arts Festival, The West Cork Arts Centre, Blackrock Castle Observatory, and Sample Studios.
Recently my traditional Irish style composition “Trip to Teulada” featured on a Heritage Council commissioned video, “A Short History of Irish Travellers”, which promoted traveller awareness and combatted racism against that community.
When composing in the traditional Irish idiom I like to immerse myself in a place or an idea. I live the experience through interactions with people and landscape. It’s my opinion that Irish music comes from the land, the sea, the soil, the cliffs, and the wind that surround us. It is a living tradition because these things have yet more to tell us. It’s the composer’s job to listen, and convey that message to others.
