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Photo: Karen Steaines

Born in Sydney in 1954, Llew Kiek began his study on piano and became musical director of the Student Theatre while studying drama at Flinders University, Adelaide. From 1976-78 he studied guitar under Don Andrews and George Golla, and in 1987-88 and 1995-96 Turkish lute with Sabahattin Akdagic.

Since 1982, Kiek has performed extensively with acclaimed Australian folk/jazz ensemble MARA!, having toured in 22 countries on the group's 30+ international tours. With Mara! he has represented Australia on tours for DFAT, Musica Viva, the ABC, Radio Australia and SOCOG.

Kiek has performed with many of Australia's leading musicians and theatre companies including Meryl Tankard, Jeannie Lewis, David Hirschfelder, Legs on the Wall and Winsome Evans. Llew's long-term performance and composition collaborators include vocalist Mara Kiek, bassists Danny Thompson (UK) and Steve Elphick (Australia), and saxophonists Jim Denley, Sandy Evans, Tony Gorman, Paul Cutlan and Andrew Robson.

His musical direction and composing clients have included Universal Pictures, (and several local motion picture creators), the ABC, the Elizabethan Theatre Trust, the Adelaide Festival of Arts, the Brisbane Festival, Ten Days on the Island Festival, Sing NSW and Sydney Children's Choir. Clients for whom Llew has performed recording sessions range from the Bell Shakespeare Company to Kellogg's to the King of Jordan.

Kiek is a highly experienced record producer and session musician with an extensive production and performance discography. Llew has received two ARIA wins and six ARIA nominations for work he has produced or on which he performs.

Since 1990 Kiek has co-directed (with Mara Kiek) the Sydney-based Balkan-style female choir Martenitsa, who also have an extensive performance and recording output including motion pictures, short films, broadcasts and several CDs. With Mara Kiek, Llew has also conducted vocal workshops with dozens of Australian choirs. He has also broadcast concerts many times for the ABC (Australia), BBC (UK) and WDR (Germany); and for TV and radio in China, Vietnam, Taiwan, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic and Australia.

He has toured with Musica Viva in schools across Australia for the past 25 years, with Mara!, and at schools in Singapore, Laos, France and the UK. Llew has given workshop/lectures at University of Sydney, University of Western Sydney, UNE Armidale, Adelaide University, UNSW, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Lismore CAE, Ultimo TAFE and Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Conservatoria. Llew has been a music consultant for the Australian Children's Television Foundation, the Jaxter music awards, and the Rock Music Development Grants scheme for NSW Arts.

Llew Kiek — current to October 2012