Artist’s Bio
Morgan Lee has built a dynamic career as a soloist, collaborator, and teacher. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Connecticut, Storrs in 2022, where she studied under the tutelage of Dr. Angelina Gadeliya. She is passionate about challenging conventional presentations of classical repertoire through interdisciplinary collaboration and bridging the divide between musical research and performance. As part of her studies at the University of Connecticut, Dr. Lee designed a unique dissertation titled “Interdisciplinary Co-Creation: A New Creative Practice for Musicians” that explores the creative potential of classical musicians collaborating with artists of other disciplines. Her most recent creative project is an interdisciplinary performance series in collaboration with multimedia artist Abigail Baird, featuring piano performance, live-cued animation projections, and sculpture.
Prior to pursuing her DMA, Dr. Lee received her Master of Music in piano performance from Mannes College of Music and studied with Yuri Kim. In 2014, she graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with her Bachelor of Arts in Music, where she studied with Linda Jiorle-Nagy. During her time at Brown, she was awarded the music department’s Hope Chatterton Prize in Music for excellence in piano performance and Brown Club of Rhode Island’s Jean & Francis Madeira Award for exceptional ability and promise in musical study. She has performed and competed in numerous music festivals in the US and abroad, including the International Keyboard Institute and Festival, the International Academy of Music, the Puigcerdà Music Festival, Brevard Music Institute, Eastern Music Festival, and the Mannes Beethoven Institute, and has performed recitals in New York City, Italy, Spain, France, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
An experienced and versatile music educator, Dr. Lee has held a variety of teaching positions. She was an adjunct faculty member of Eastern Connecticut State University’s Performing Arts Department from 2020 to 2022, where she taught piano in both group and individual settings. She has also formerly served as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Connecticut, a faculty piano instructor at the Bronx Conservatory of Music, a Teaching Fellow at Mannes School of Music, and a teaching assistant for the Brown University Music Department. Prior to pursuing her doctorate at UConn, Dr. Lee maintained a private piano studio of approximately 20 students ages 3-17 in New York City. She joined the applied music faculty of Colby College in the fall of 2022 and is also a member of the piano faculty at Bay Chamber Music School and Stone Coast Music. She enjoys teaching experienced beginners and lifelong musicians alike and currently instructs over 30 students ranging from age 6 through adulthood.
Dr. Lee also has a wealth of experience as a collaborative pianist and music director. In Spring 2022, she served as staff collaborative pianist for the UConn Music Department, where she accompanied all vocal area performances and accompanied and coached for the Opera Theater program. She also held the position of Music Director at Second Congregational Church of Coventry from 2019 to 2022.
Dr. Lee relocated to Augusta, Maine in 2022 and is an active collaborative pianist in the southern, central, and midcoast regions. She frequently collaborates with students in her role as joint instructor and collaborative pianist at Colby College and is the pianist for the Maine Music Society Chorale and the Unitarian Universality Community Church of Augusta Choir. She previously served as staff collaborative pianist at the University of Maine Osher School of Music from 2022 to 2024. Dr. Lee also performs regularly as keyboardist with the Portland Symphony Orchestra.