News

The Raleigh-Durham area’s NPR affiliate WUNC previewed yMusic’s upcoming concert of Duke Composers’ works at Motorco. The ensemble performed excerpts of Lee’s Liftoff as well as Sid Richardson’s l’air sans notes live on the air. To read the accompanying article and hear the broadcast, follow the link below.

yMusic performed the first and third movements of Liftoff as part of a concert featuring the works of Duke composers. The piece is inspired by Lee’s memories of watching shuttle launches from hundred of miles away while growing up in Florida. Read the review below.

Lee was among one of the four composers from the Baltimore area that the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society commissioned in honor of its 25th anniversary. Lee’s piece To Build a House was premiered by Oscar Somersalo, a Finnish guitarist studying with Manuel Barrueco at the Peabody Institute. In the piece, the guitar evokes the synthesized sounds, repeated buildups, and driving pulses of electronic dance music.

Conductor Norman Huynh led the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in a reading of Lee’s newest orchestral work, Three Images. The piece is a transcription of a recent string quartet of Lee’s, and features three movements each inspired by different artworks.

Lee’s newest work for string quartet was premiered at the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore. Three Images was commissioned by the ACC and the Occasional Symphony, and takes its inspiration from artwork that appeared at the show. The quartet performed multiple times, using the artwork as a backdrop.

The Occasional Symphony initiated an annual tradition of accompanying horror films with live orchestral music on Halloween. Lee wrote the music to accompany three scenes from The Cabinet of Dr. Calgary, which were stitched together with music from fellow composer James Young and excerpts from the standard repertoire. The concert took place at 2640 Space, a dilapidated church turned venue, and it was standing room only.

Classical Revolution Baltimore and Classical Revolution DC combined to perform Lee’s arrangement of the Sarabande from Bach’s D Major Cello Suite. The arrangement was to reflect Classical Revolution’s scrappy pick-up performances at bars, and therefore featured a strange assortment of instruments, including violin, three cellos, bass, flute, trumpet, tuba, bassoon, two sopranos, and beatboxer.

Lee is currently Composer in Residence at both Classical Revolution Baltimore and the Occasional Symphony, both of which were featured in the Baltimore Sun’s article on the city’s “alt-classical” scene. The article features different groups that are taking classical music out of the concert hall and into more interesting and exciting venue. It also previews the Occasional Symphony’s upcoming Halloween concert. To read the article, follow the link below.

Lee’s newest orchestral work, Janus Antics, was chosen to be read by the Baltimore Symphony along with two other works by Peabody composers. Peabody conductor Stephen Mulligan led the first run through, and then Marin Alsop took over for the rest. A light-hearted and capricious dance for orchestra, Janus Antics conjures the two-faced Roman god known for looking forward and backwards simultaneously.