Leon Starker completed a B.Sc. degree with Chemistry and Maths as well as the Higher Education Diploma at Stellenbosch University. During his student years he studied singing with Prof. George van der Spuy and sang in the Stellenbosch University Choir.

He holds both an advanced Diploma in Choral Conducting as well as an M.Mus. in Choral Conducting from the Nelson Mandela University where he studied with well-known South African composer-conductor couple, Péter-Louis and Junita van Dijk.

Leon has been the conductor of the Cape Town Youth Choir since 2003. While they focus on a cappella music they have also performed major works such as the Rachmaninov Vespers, Händel’s Messiah (broadcast on national television in 2018), Arvo Pärt’s Passio (St John Passion) and Karl Jenkin’s Armed Man a Mass for Peace. They have recorded numerous CDs.

With CTYC, Leon has travelled the world where they presented concerts in venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, St Paul’s Cathedral in London, and the Mozarteum Großer Saal in Salzburg. They have participated in various international competitions, winning gold and most recently winning the prize for the best performance of a contemporary work at the International Chamber Choir Computation in Spittal an der Drau, Austria (2019) and placing second in the mixed voice category of the 2022 edition of the Marktoberdorf International Chamber Choir competition.

Leon taught choral conducting at the University of Cape Town College of Music from 2015 till 2018.