Michael Lee is an exciting young American composer residing in Manhattan, New York and studying composition at the Juilliard School under Dr. Samuel Adler.  Michael has written for a large range of concert music from duos to String Quartets to a Piano Concerto and full orchestral pieces.

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 recipient of the $20,000 Cartwright scholarship, the Irene Diamond Graduate fellowship, the Hannah Komanoff scholarship in composition and the George Gershwin memorial 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.

Most recently, Michael’s large orchestral work, ‘Contrasting Visions’ written in November 2011, is the recipient of the $2,500 Arthur Friedman Award for Best Orchestral piece and will be premiered by the Juilliard Orchestra under Maestro Jeffery Milarsky February 27th, 2012.

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Among his accomplishments and his drive to share music, Michael is most recently a finalist in the 28th ALEA II International Composition Competition, chosen amongst 201 applicants, representing the USA.  Michael is also a recipient of a letter of praise from BMI for a "promising work for the future" on his Metropolis Piano Concerto.  His works have also received a $1,000 professional performance award for his chamber work, which has been performed in the same program with the Van Cliburn Gold medalist, Jon Nakamatsu; and selected for professional orchestral performances in Europe.  One of his recent works, Capriccio for Violin and piano was personally praised John Corigliano, Christopher Rouse, and Robert Beaser at the Juilliard school.  This piece was recently chosen by a professional studio to be sold as a CD and through Amazon.com and itunes.com.  Michael has continuously received guidance and high commendations 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, Robert Beaser, Jonathon Dawe, Christopher Rouse, Sir Nicholas Maw, Samuel Adler and John Corigliano.  Michael is open to various styles and his developing and maturing interests have revolved around his pride and passion for being an American composer.

    In addition to his studies, Michael seeks to actively pursue composition as a career. His mission is to prolong the growth of 21st century American classical music to a broad audience of both musicians and music lovers alike. His passion for classical music composition came to fruition at a young age while playing the trumpet in middle school.  Michael is extremely motivated by his desire to teach composition while, at the same time, growing as a composer himself to become an influential artist who’s goal is to accept and share new musical innovations. He firmly believes that a true musician understands that one's talent and technical abilities are merely tools for achieving success, and that it is one’s own integrity and growth in character that defines success.

from “a chant amongst chaos for orchestra”