The Bozeman Symphony presents its first-ever Composer-in-Residence, Scott Lee
The Bozeman Symphony presents its first-ever Composer-in-Residence, Scott Lee, a dynamic composer who combines classical form with the more visceral rhythmic language of contemporary popular music. During his residency starting in May 2021, Lee has been commissioned by the Bozeman Symphony to write a piece inspired by the unique spirit and energy of Bozeman that will open the much-anticipated 2021 – 2022 concert season. In addition to this world premiere piece, Lee will engage with the community through multiple virtual events in February 2021.
Never before, in the Bozeman Symphony’s 53-year-history, has the organization hosted a Composer-in-Residence to create a piece to premiere for the community. Music Director Norman Huynh is honored to introduce composer Scott Lee to the Bozeman community through a number of events during the remainder of the 2020 – 2021 concert season, including a virtual composers forum, an online composition masterclass, and a new contemporary music series, Current Commotion.
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to come be a part of a flourishing musical community, which includes the Bozeman Symphony musicians, audience members, and patrons as well as the students and faculty at Montana State University,” said Lee. “As a composer with an outsider’s perspective on Bozeman, I hope to write a piece that will bring some fresh energy and new ideas that will invigorate the orchestra.”
Lee will first be introduced to the Bozeman community during one of two virtual events via Zoom on February 11 and 12, 2021. Huynh will moderate the first online event, “Composers Forum: Turning Ideas into Music,” featuring Scott Lee and local composer Eric Funk. Together, they will discuss how composers take people, places, and ideas, and represent them through music. The following day, Lee will host the Bozeman Symphony’s Composition Masterclass at Montana State University for student composers to hone their craft and showcase their pieces of written music.
Following the virtual events, Lee will start his residency in Bozeman on May 24 through May 31, 2021. During this time, Scott will experience everything the community has to offer – from the spectacular landscape to the incredible live arts scene – where he will derive inspiration to write his commissioned piece presented during the first concert of the 2021 – 2022 season.
“I enjoy the outdoors, and it seems to me that Bozeman offers unparalleled access to all of the kinds of activities I love, like hiking, skiing, and fishing,” said Lee. “At the same time, it appears that there’s quite a thriving arts and culture scene in Bozeman, which I’m very excited to engage with and participate in.”
On May 27, 2021, Lee will participate in the arts scene first-hand during the Bozeman Symphony’s new contemporary music series, Current Commotion, for the orchestra’s inaugural performance at a downtown music venue. Music Director Huynh and Lee curated the program in a cabaret-style format featuring musicians of the Bozeman Symphony.
Lee will return to Bozeman for the world premiere of his piece during the first concert of the 2021 – 2022 season.
For more information about the Bozeman Symphony’s Composer-in-Residence Scott Lee, season updates and events, please visit bozemansymphony.org, or contact the symphony office at (406) 585-9774 or info@bozemansymphony.org. The Symphony wishes to thank David Ross and Risi for their season sponsorship and the season subscribers, donors, and patrons who have provided support this 2020 – 2021 concert season.
Scott Lee, Composer: Praised as “colorful” and “engaging” (The Philadelphia Inquirer), Scott Lee's music often takes inspiration from popular genres, exploring odd-meter grooves and interlocking hockets while featuring pointillistic orchestration and extended performance techniques. His music marries the traditional intricacy of classical form with the more body-centered and visceral language of contemporary popular music, creating complex music of the present with broad appeal. The Berkshire Edge described the world premiere of his Slack Tide at Tanglewood Music Center as having “moments both of calm and maximum tension...we’ve never heard anything like it.”
Lee has worked with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, Symphony in C, the JACK Quartet, yMusic, the Da Capo Chamber Players, and pop artist Ben Folds. Recent commissioners include the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival, Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, loadbang, and the Raleigh Civic Symphony. Notable honors include a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and two ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards.
Lee is currently Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Florida School of Music. Lee earned a PhD in Composition at Duke University, and also holds degrees from the Peabody Institute and Vanderbilt University. Learn more at scottleemusic.net.
Eric Funk, Composer: A former student of Tomas Svoboda, Sandor Veress, and Krzysztof Penderecki in the 1970s, Mr. Funk has composed numerous works, including nine symphonies, four operas, six ballet scores, three large works for chorus and orchestra, nineteen concertos, several orchestral tone poems, and numerous works for chamber ensembles, solo instruments, and vocal works. Eric Funk just completed a new solo violin work entitled "Melisma, Op 147," homage and farewell to our dear friend Andre Melief, the recording by Vilmos Olah can be heard on the works/recording page of this site. Prominent premieres of his works include “From the Dreams of Montana Children” [Carnegie Hall, NY]; his one-act solo opera-ballet for contralto and ballet troupe, "Akhmatova," based on key texts from the Russian poet's life; his solo concerto "Vili: Concerto for the Violin Alone, Op 109" (now an award winning PBS-TV documentary "The Violin Alone," was awarded six 2018 Emmy Awards: "Music Composition," Best Documentary-Cultural, Director, Photography, Editing, Audio; "Best Documentary" 2017 Chicago Amarcord Arthouse Television Awards,) triple string quartet (The Old Masters,) commissioned by New Music USA for the Cassatt String Quartet, and "Variations on a Theme by Jan Hanus, Op. 127" for violin and string orchestra which was awarded The American Prize in Composition Special Judges' Citation as "Best Concerto of the Year" 2017. His newest commissioned score, a piano trio "Les Soeurs, Op. 142" was written for the renowned Ahn Trio and the James Sewell Ballet Company and premiered in Minneapolis in 2017. Funk most recently created a transcription for piano trio for the Ahn Trio of his 3 BeBop tunes: Flyswatter, Raid, and Deet. Learn more at ericfunk.com
