About Me: Leo Amadeus

  My marketing tagline these days seems to be “Actor, Writer and Musician” – it’s the most succinct way to describe what I do. During my high school years, I went to a performing arts high school: the Thrive! program in Perform Australia (which then became Perform Academy, and now unfortunately doesn’t exist anymore). During this time, I developed an insatiable thirst for acting and performing. I love telling stories and have been particularly inspired by my dad, James Scott, who is the best actor I know of and a great storyteller. My mum’s pretty cool, too. She writes novels and plays (sometimes for my dad or me to act in!) and combined they both know how to run a business.

  In 2016, I started playing songs by ear on the thirty-year-old retro lightweight Casio keyboard we had. My mum saw the potential in me and decided that I should take piano lessons. So, I did. She insisted that I continue taking them, especially when I least wanted to do them. I’m very grateful, because if I hadn’t taken lessons for as long as I have now, then I would be nowhere near the musician I am today.

  I took piano lessons with Rebecca Simon, the President of the ACT Keyboard Association, and she was the person who (eventually) managed to drive the “clompity-clomp” out of my piano playing. Under her tutoring, I gained an appreciation of classical music (especially romantic-era music!) and jazz. I also completed a Grade 8 Certificate in Piano with AMEB.

  I took singing lessons with Tobias Cole, Australia’s leading countertenor, and with him worked on creating a more classical foundation to my singing voice. Today I still work with him quite frequently in choirs and other classical music performances, as well as the rest of his talented family, Marcel, Katie and Jesse.

  In 2020, I started my YouTube channel, which was called Doctor Penguin. This was because I liked Doctor Who and penguins. I started experimenting with a cappella music covers, and did quite a few over 2021 and 2022. When 2023 rolled around, I lessened my activity on my channel, due to school restrictions (I completed a Certificate IV in Acting and started an Advanced Diploma of Performance, which took up a lot of extra time outside of school hours).