Michael Lee is a 23 year old composer residing in Manhattan, New York and studying composition at Juilliard under Dr. Samuel Adler.

Even at his young age, Michael has written for a large range of concert music from duos to String Quartets to a Piano Concerto and full orchestral pieces, two of them recently read, performed and recorded upon a live audience.

Michael works hard to be an active composer along with his studies.  His passion is “to prolong the growth of 21st century American classical music to the audience of musicians and music lovers alike.”  He is the recent recipient of the $20,000 Cartwright Scholarship from the Juilliard School and the recipient of the Bernard Rogers Memorial prize and Howard Hanson Award/Scholarship from the Eastman School of Music.

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Michael is a passionate composer whose main concentration on classical music composition started during his yearly middle school years while playing the trumpet.  He has a great deal of passion for wanting to teach composition while being a determined and intriguing composer who’s goal is to accept and share new musical innovations.  True musicians must understand that talent is only a tool for success, what leads to success is one’s own character, not simply one’s technical abilities.   Michael has always strived to share his talent in both trumpet and music composition, winning several prizes in both areas ever since middle school. 

He is most recently a current finalist in the 28th ALEA II international composition competition (final decisions to be announced in October), a recipient of a letter of praise from BMI for a ‘promising work for the future’ on Michael’s piano concerto, ASCAP awards, a $1000 professional performance of his chamber work (which was performed on the same program with the Van Cliburn Gold medalist Jon Nakamatsu), and chosen for professional performances of his orchestral music in Europe.  Michael has received advice and high praise for his young, innovative, and ambitious music compositions by a wide array of successful composers of various styles including Milton Babbitt, Christopher Theofanidis, Yehudi Wyner, Joel Hoffman, Sir Nicholas Maw, Samuel Adler, and John Corigliano.  Michael is open to various styles, but his developing and maturing interests has been in his pride and passion as an American composer.  This ideal greatly changes his use of color and themes and his new interest in rhythm: from African rhythms, poly-rhythm, and jazz syncopation has greatly affected and challenged his music ever since.

Michael is a Korean American composer born in Atlanta, Georgia and a graduate of the Eastman School of Music.

from “a chant amongst chaos for orchestra”