EPISODE NUMBER THREE OF OUR MONTHLY VODCAST THE VOICE DETECTIVE SHOW WITH KEN LAING AM

Ken Laing AM (Member of the Order of Australia) is a highly respected Australian Event Producer, Artistic Director and Musical Coordinator.

Over his distinguished career, there is virtually no international touring artist whose Australian tour Ken Laing hasn’t organised and coordinated. 

As Maestro Tommy Tycho, one of Australia’s foremost conductors and composers AM MBE, so aptly said, “Ken has a rare, innate ability to bring together exactly the right combination of musicians for any genre of music.”1  And so he did, from his beginnings as a much sought after orchestral percussionist, ultimately becoming the personal manager for Tommy Tycho.  Ken went on to producing seven Royal Command Performances, theatre productions of Disney’s Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Mary Poppins; and other theatrical productions such as The Boy from Oz, Chorus Line, Fame and SHOUT and the Melbourne production of Les Misérables.

International touring concerts and acts organised and coordinated by Ken include Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis Jnr, Shirley Bassey, Anthony Warlow, Hugh Jackman, Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond, Olivia Newton John, Michael Crawford, Il Divo, Kanye West, along with live television event broadcasts of Australian Idol, Young Talent Time and Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure.

Album and CD recordings include four albums for Mark Vincent, John Farnham’s ‘I remember when I Was Young’, Anthony Warlow’s  ‘Face the Music’ and Guy Sebastian’s ‘Climb Every Mountain’, Anthony Callea’s ‘The Prayer’ and, David Campbell’s ‘Good Lovin’’. Ken also was involved with the full Australian cast recordings of the Disney musicals and received an Aria award for ‘The Legend of the Wild One’.

Apart from producing countless events and concerts for the Sydney Opera House, Ken was responsible for:

Anthony Warlow AM Back in the Swing Australian Tour; Royal Command Performance Queen Elizabeth II & Duke of Edinburgh Sydney Entertainment Centre; Official Opening of the Sydney Football Stadium by Her Royal Highness Princess Mary of Denmark; The Premier of New South Wales Newcastle Earthquake Disaster Relief Concert in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Edward; Seventeen  NSW Premier’s Gala Concerts Sydney Entertainment Centre; Eight Official Opening Concerts for Sydney Carnivale in the Domain and at Parramatta; The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Artistic & Rhythm Gymnastics; Ten  Australian Entertainment ‘MO’ Awards held at Sydney Opera House, State Theatre, Sydney Entertainment Centre…and list goes on and on! 

The Voice Detective is very pleased to be able to speak with Ken about his vast experience in the music business and hear his helpful tips for young professionals who wish to embark on their own performing career.