Lee and Holritz to Present “Voice of the Viola”
The Lee University School of Music will present Dr. Josh Holritz, viola, and Dr. ChoEun Lee, piano, in a faculty recital, “Voice of the Viola,” on Monday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the Squires Recital Hall, located in Lee’s Humanities Center.
“We are very much looking forward to celebrating an evening with the Voice of the Viola,” said Dr. ChoEun Lee, assistant professor of collaborative piano and vocal coaching.
The program will begin with a lyric piece by a Romantic German composer Hans Sitt, followed by a vocal piece by Spanish composer Xavier Montsalvatge, which was transcribed for viola and piano. The evening will conclude with an epic sonata by 20th-century composer Rebecca Clarke, who explored a full range of tone colors and characters on the viola.
Hailed as “particularly outstanding” (Chattanooga Times Free Press), violinist and violist Josh Holritz enjoys a varied career spanning the gamut of performing and teaching. Recently appointed as the concertmaster of the Hunstville Symphony Orchestra, Holritz began his tenure with the HSO in September 2022. Holritz also serves as the associate concertmaster of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, a position he has held since 2014.
Holritz is dedicated to training the next generation of musicians and currently serves as adjunct instructor of violin and viola for The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, adjunct instructor of violin at Southern Adventist University, and adjunct professor at Covenant College where he teaches violin, viola, and chamber music. He is also currently a faculty artist for the Bay View Music Festival.
Holritz received his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Georgia, his Master of Music from the University of Minnesota, and his Bachelor of Music from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
ChoEun Lee, a native of Korea, has given numerous performances in Korea, the United States, Austria, Australia, Italy, Taiwan, and New Zealand, in major venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York City, Ozawa Hall in Tanglewood Music Center, and Harris Concert Hall in Aspen Music Festival. She has worked extensively in recitals and masterclasses with renowned musicians including Stephanie Blythe, Martin Katz, Anne Sofie von Otter, Christine Schäfer, Dawn Upshaw, and Linda Watson.
She world-premiered a co-commissioned chamber work for soprano, saxophone, and piano, “The Ocean of Eternity,” by Lori Laitman at the National Opera Center in New York City and was a featured performer in Laitman’s recent recording project.
ChoEun Lee was twice invited to Tanglewood Music Festival and has been named a recipient of the Grace B. Jackson Prize. One of her performances in Seiji Ozawa Hall was broadcasted on WAMC. Since 2016, Lee has been invited to the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria as a repetiteur.
She is a director of LeeU Collab Music, a member of the International Keyboard Collaborative Arts Society (IKCAS) leadership team, and an assistant artistic director of CollabFest, IKCAS’s annual conference.
Lee received her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California, her Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati, and her Bachelor of Music from Kyungwon University.
The event is free, non-ticketed, and open to the public. Livestream viewing will be available at leeu.live.
For more information about the concert, contact the School of Music at (423) 614-8240 or by email at [email protected].
