Thomas Oboe Lee

=Life and Work=

Thomas Oboe Lee was born in Beijing, China, in 1945. He and his family left Communist China in 1949, and lived in the former British Colony Hong Kong for ten years until 1959 when he moved to São Paulo, Brazil. He emigrated to the USA in the summer of 1966.

His musical education began in Brazil during the Bossa Nova craze. He performed as a jazz flutist with many illustrious Brazilian musicians, including the singer/song-writer Chico Buarque de Hollanda. He continued his music education in the United States at the University of Pittsburgh, the New England Conservatory of Music and Harvard University. He has been a professor of music at Boston College since the fall of 1990.

In 1981, he and five other composers from the New England Conservatory formed a composers group called "Composers in Red Sneakers." The group produced a number of successful concerts in the Boston-Cambridge area. Lee left the group in 1986 to live in Italy for a year when he won the Rome Prize Fellowship. Subsequently, Lee's music has won many other awards and Fellowships: two Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, two Massachusetts Artists Foundation Fellowships, the Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, First Prize at the 1983 Friedheim Kennedy Center Awards for his "Third String Quartet ... child of Uranus, father of Zeus", and recording grants from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.

Lee has composed over a hundred works: six symphonies, ten string quartets, concerti for various instruments, choral works, song cycles and scores of chamber works. Some of his early works, originally published by Margun Music Inc., have since been transferred to G. Schirmer Inc./Associated Music Publishers. The majority of his recent orchestral music is available for rental and sale from the Theodore Presser Company. The rest - choral, vocal and chamber music - is self-published under the moniker "Departed Feathers Music." His music has been recorded on Nonesuch, MCA Classics, Koch International Classics, BMG Catalyst, Arsis Audio, Northeastern and Gunther Schuller's GM Recordings, Inc.

His most popular work, "Morango ... Almost A Tango," written for and recorded by the Kronos Quartet, has been used in dance by choreographers like Michael Tracy for Pilobolus (dance company), Jiri Kylian for the Netherlands Dance Theater, Danny Rosseel for the Royal Ballet of Flanders, Nicolo Fonte for the Pacific Northwest Ballet and Australian Ballet, Carolyn Carlson for the Cullberg Ballet of Sweden, Olivia Rosenkrantz for Tapage - a tap duo, et al. Additionally, "Morango ..." was used as a sound track for "Call It Sleep" - a documentary on Henry Roth.

Lee has recently ventured into the world of opera. His two-act chamber opera, "The Inman Diaries," (libretto by Jesse J. Martin) about the infamous Boston diarist Arthur Crew Inman was produced and premiered in Boston in 2007 by Intermezzo - The New England Chamber Opera Series. His on-going opera-in-progress is "Oscar Wilde ... An Opera in Two Acts."

Works

*Opus 1 'Aperture, opus 1' (1974) string quartet.
*Opus 2 'The Mad Frog' (1974) oboe, bass clarinet in Bb, harp.
*Opus 3 'The Sensuous Gargoyle' (1975) violin, piano.
*Opus 4 'Piece For Viola' (1976) saxophone quartet.
*Opus 5 'Tennessee Sourmash' (1976) cello, piano.
*Opus 6 'Twenty-nine Fireflies, Book I, Four Pieces [i-iv] ' (1977) solo piano.
*Opus 7 'Libelle ... "dragonfly"' (1977, withdrawn) solo harp.
*Opus 8 'After A Lecture By John Cage' (1978) solo piano.
*Opus 9 'Photograph 1920' (1978; rev. 1982) soprano, clarinet/bass clarinet in Bb, violin, viola, cello.
*Opus 10 'Octopus Wrecks' (1979; rev. 1981) 2 Bb trumpets, F horn, trombone, tuba, 3 double basses.
*Opus 11 'Currie Cabot' (1980) viola, piano.
*Opus 12 'Departed Feathers' (1980) string quartet.
*Opus 13 'Phantasia For Elvira Shatayev' (1981) soprano and orchestra
*Opus 14 'The Cockscomb' (1981) female voice, violin, Bb trumpet, double bass, piano, 2 percussion.
*Opus 15 'The MacGuffin' (1982) Bb soprano/Eb alto sax, percussion.
*Opus 16 'White Pond ... Concord, Mass.' (1982) oboe, piano.
*Opus 17 'Third String Quartet ... child of Uranus, father of Zeus' (1982)
*Opus 18 'Twenty-nine Fireflies, Book II, Seven Pieces [v-xi] '(1982-1986) solo piano.
*Opus 19 'The Gainsborough Five' (1983) 2 Bb trumpets, F horn, trombone, tuba.
*Opus 20 'Morango ... Almost A Tango' (1983) string quartet.
*Opus 21 'Double Concerto' (1983-1984) 2 pianos and chamber orchestra
*Opus 22 'Double "L" Triptych, opus 22' (1983) oboe solo, strings
*Opus 23 'Hylidae ... The Tree Frogs' (1984) violin, double bass, piano.
*Opus 24 'Cavatina Cavadini' (1991, replaces 1984 version) concert band
*Opus 25 'Saxxologie ... A Sextet' (1984) six saxophones: 2 Bb soprano, 1 Eb alto, 2 Bb tenor, 1 Eb baritone.
*Opus 26 'Waltzes, opus 26 (1984, rev. 1994) flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, F horn, bassoon.
*Opus 27 'Harp Concerto (1985) harp solo; chamber orchestra
*Opus 28 'Louie MCMLV' (1985 - pièce d'occasion) saxophone quartet.
*Opus 29 'String Trio' (1985) violin, viola, cello.
*Opus 30 'Six At The Top Means...' (1985) alt, ten, bari sax, 3 tpt, 2 tbn, piano, bass, drums, perc.
*Opus 31 'Piano Sextet' (1985) flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, bassoon, F horn, piano.
*Opus 32 'Santa Cecilia ...' a Horn Trio (1986/1990 - pièce d'occasion) violin, F horn, marimba.
*Opus 33 'Marimolin' (1986) violin, marimba.
*Opus 34 'Harp Trio' (1986, withdrawn) flute, cello, harp.
*Opus 35 'Concertino' (1986) Bb trumpet solo, timpani, string orchestra
*Opus 36 'String Quartet No. 5 ... Four Birthdays' (1987)
*Opus 37 'Apples ... Six Dreams by Richard Kenney' (1987; rev. 1990) mezzo-soprano, piano.
*Opus 38 'Chôrinhos, opus 38' (1987) flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion.
*Opus 39 'Piano Quintet ... Apple Strudel' (1988) violin, viola, cello, double bass, piano.
*Opus 40 'numina I ...' (1988; rev. 1994) solo trumpet.
*Opus 41 'numina V ... a Williams fanfare' (1988 - pièce d'occasion) 2 oboes, English horn in F, 2 bassoons.
*Opus 42 'Unmasked ... a chamber opera in one act' (1989-90, withdrawn)
*Opus 43 'numina II ...' (1989; rev. 1990 - pièce d'occasion) two flutes, or recorders.
*Opus 44 'Marimolintoo' (1989-90) violin, marimba.
*Opus 45 'String Quartet on B-flat' (1989-1990; rev. 1993)
*Opus 46 'Dark Angels' (1990; rev. 1994) viola, cello.
*Opus 47 'Hymnbook Resources Commission' (1990) vocal quartet: SATB.
*Opus 48 'Seven Jazz Pieces' (1990-91) string quartet.
*Opus 49 'I Never Saw Another Butterfly' (1991) mezzo-soprano, Bb clarinet, piano.
*Opus 50 'That Mountain' (1991; rev. 1992) lyric baritone, flute, Bb clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion.
*Opus 51 'Jana ... An American Overture' (1991, withdrawn) orchestra
*Opus 52 'Les Adieux à Dhu ... an Adagio' (1992 - pièce d'occasion) orchestra
*Opus 53 'Poema de Natal' (1992, rev. 1996) mezzo soprano, Bb clarinet, trombone, piano, percussion.
*Opus 54 'Studio 54' (1992) flute, Bb clarinet, violin, cello, piano.
*Opus 55 'Four In One + 3' (1992 - pièce d'occasion) flute, oboe, cello, trap set.
*Opus 56 'Symphony No. 1 ... Fallen Angels' (1993; rev. 1995) orchestra
*Opus 57 'Castor & Pollux' (1993; rev. 1996 - pièce d'occasion) flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, piano.
*Opus 58 'Tunesmith ... American Beauty Pageant' (1993) violin, piano.
*Opus 59 'Sinfonietta' (1994) orchestra
*Opus 60 'Piano Trio No. 1' (1994; rev. 2000) violin, cello, piano.
*Opus 61 'Chôros, opus 61' (1994-95) violin or viola solo in seven movements.
*Opus 62 'Eurydice ... A Tone Poem for Cello and Orchestra' (1995) solo cello and orchestra
*Opus 63 'La Chimera Fantastica ... [String Trio No. 2] ' (1995; rev. 1996) violin, viola, cello.
*Opus 64 'ART: arias & interludes ... Commedia dell'Arte for String Quartet' (1996; rev. 1997)
*Opus 65 'Trinca de Chôros' (1996 - pièce d'occasion) Bb clarinet solo in three movements.
*Opus 65a 'Canções e Sambinhas' (1996) cello, piano.
*Opus 66 'Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards' ... Twenty-two salon pieces for two pianos, opus 66 (1996).
*Opus 66a 'Eight Tarot Cards for Madam Rubio' (1997-version for two marimbas).
*Opus 67 'Jack and the Blues' (1997) soprano, piano.
*Opus 68 'Tantric Psalms' (1997, rev. 1999) mezzo-soprano, string quartet.
*Opus 69 'Yo Picasso' (1997) Bb clarinet, viola, cello, piano.
*Opus 70 'Symphony No. 2 ... A Phantasmagorey Ballet' (1998) orchestra
*Opus 71 'Forró' (1998) orchestra
*Opus 72 'The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa' (1998) mezzo-soprano, organ.
*Opus 73 'Pambarry Jam' (1998 - pièce d'occasion) piano solo.
*Opus 74 'EletRIC BARB' (1998 - pièce d'occasion) flute, bass.
*Opus 75 'VW in July' (1998 - pièce d'occasion) 2 flutes, piano.
*Opus 76 'Twenty-nine Fireflies, Book III, Seven Pieces [xii-xviii] ' (1998, rev. 2000) piano solo.
*Opus 77 'Septet, opus 77 ... Variations on a Shaker Tune' (1998) flute, Bb clar., F Horn, violin, viola, cello, doublebass.
*Opus 78 'Love Songs' (1998) mezzo-soprano, piano.
*Opus 79 'Berkshire Country Day School Fugue' (1999 - pièce d'occasion) string quartet.
*Opus 80 'He Loves And She Loves' ... G. & I. Gershwin (1999 - pièce d'occasion) arr. for two pianos.
*Opus 81 'Children's Suite, opus 81' (1999 - pièce d'occasion) violin, cello, piano; or violin, Bb clarinet, piano.
*Opus 82 'Jubilatus' (1999 - pièce d'occasion) orchestra
*Opus 83 'Waltzin' Isabella' (1999 - pièce d'occasion) Bb trumpet, piano.
*Opus 84 'Pastorale' (2000 - pièce d'occasion) harp solo, orchestra
*Opus 85 'Mass for the Holy Year 2000' (1999-2000) SATB soloists, SATB chorus & orchestra
*Opus 86 'Summer Lilies' (2000) mezzo-soprano, piano.
*Opus 87 Symphony No. 3 ... Portraits in Jazz' (2000) orchestra
*Opus 88 'Lux Aeterna I, II, III, IV & V' ... (2000-02) a cappella SATB chorus.
*Opus 89 'Morning Bliss' (2000) mezzo-soprano, piano.
*Opus 90 'Flauta Carioca, opus 90' (2000) flute solo, orchestra.
*Opus 91 'Symphony No. 4 ... War and Peace' (2000-01) soprano and orchestra.
*Opus 92 'Voilà!!! ... Seven movements for two violas' (2001) or violin & viola.
*Opus 93 'Hancock Shaker Village' (2001) mezzo-soprano & string quartet.
*Opus 94 'I've Got the Munchies' (2001, rev. 2004) violin, viola, bass clarinet in Bb, vibraphone.
*Opus 95 'Christmas Cantata' (2001, rev. 2004) mezzo-soprano solo, SATB chorus, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, organ, timpani.
*Opus 96 'Toccata, Adagio & Fugue' (2001) organ solo.
*Opus 97 'Fantasia for solo organ' (2001)
*Opus 97a 'Chorale-Fantasy, opus 97a' (2003) organ solo.
*Opus 98 'Twenty-nine Fireflies, Book IV, Seven Pieces [xix-xxv] ' ... (2002) piano solo.
*Opus 99 'Twenty-nine Fireflies, Book V, Four Pieces [xxvi-xxix] ' ... (2002) piano solo.
*Opus 100 'Seven Steps To Heaven' (2002) 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos & double bass.
*Opus 101 'Waltzes, opus 101' (2002) flute/alto flute, harp.
*Opus 102 'Stabat Mater' (2002) SATB chorus, organ.
*Opus 103 'The New England Transcendentalists: Emerson, Hawthorne, Alcott & Thoreau' (2003) string quartet.
*Opus 103a 'Pater Noster' (2003) baritone & string quartet.
*Opus 104 'Mambo!!!' (2003) orchestra.
*Opus 105 'Symphony No. 5 ... Utopia Parkway' (2003) orchestra.
*Opus 105a 'Shepherd, Show Me How To Go' (2003 - pièce d'occasion) organ solo.
*Opus 105b 'Shepherd, Show Me How To Go' (2004 - pièce d'occasion) string orchestra version.
*Opus 106 'Brocktonian Two-Step' (2003 - pièce d'occasion) orchestra.
*Opus 107 'Clarinet Concerto ... Sounds of the Islands' (2003) clarinet solo & orchestra.
*Opus 108 'Bellaboola, opus 108' (2004 - pièce d'occasion) solo trumpet in Bb.
*Opus 109 'Symphony No. 6 ... The Penobscot River' (2004) SATB chorus & orchestra.
*Opus 110 'The Flowers of Terezín' (2004) for children's chorus - SSA chorus, piano.
*Opus 111 'Concerto for Orchestra, opus 111' (2004-05) orchestra
*Opus 112 'Prelúdios ... Comidas Típicas Brasileiras' (2005) solo marimba.
*Opus 113 'Mechthild von Magdeburg ... Minnelieder an got' (2005) SATB chorus, harp & string quintet.
*Opus 114 'Pluto ... Lord of the Underworld' (2005) orchestra.
*Opus 115a 'Oscar Wilde ... An Opera in Two Acts' (piano-vocal score of Act One, 2005)
*Opus 115b 'Oscar Wilde ... An Opera in Two Acts' (piano-vocal score of Act Two, work-in-progress)
*Opus 116 'Persephone and the Four Seasons' (2006) oboe solo & orchestra.
*Opus 117 'String Quartet No. 10 ... The Berkshires' (2006) string quartet.
*Opus 118 'Piano Concerto ... Mozartiana' (2007) piano solo & orchestra.
*Opus 119 'The Inman Diaries ... A Chamber Opera in Two Acts' (2007) nine singers and seven instruments.
*Opus 120 'Chorões Brasileiros' (2007) alto saxophone in Eb & piano.
*Opus 121 'Piano Quintet' (2008) piano & string quartet.
*Opus 122 'Symphony No. 7 ... Roman Holidays' (2008) orchestra.
*Opus 123 'Walden' (2008) lyric tenor & octet - flute, clarinet, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass & piano.
*Opus 124 'Septem Verba Christi in Cruce' (2008) a cappella SATB chorus.
*Opus 125 '... bisbigliando ...' (2008-09) harp solo and orchestra.
*Opus 126 'The Emerald Necklace' (2009) narrator & orchestra.
*Opus 127 'Violin Concerto' (2009) violin solo and orchestra.

External links

* [http://www.thomasoboelee.com Thomas Oboe Lee website]
* [http://www.amc.net/composers/c_works.asp?actorid=36492&composerid=17915&SortBy=YearComposed Listen to Thomas Oboe Lee's music at the AMC online listening library]
* [http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2007/09/14/one_mans_17_million_words_inspire_an_opera/ Globe preview of The Inman Diaries]
* [http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2007/09/17/diaries_has_some_very_fine_passages/ Globe review of The Inman Diaries]
* [http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=music&sc2=reviews&sc3=performance&id=7316 Edge Boston review of The Inman Diaries]