Lee University School of Music will present LeeU Collab Music, a day-long workshop, on Saturday, Sept. 18, beginning at 9 a.m. The event, being held in person and over Zoom, will be hosted by Dr. ChoEun Lee, event director and assistant professor of collaborative piano and vocal coaching at Lee.

“We are thrilled to celebrate the continuation of the LeeU Collab Music and to welcome distinguished faculty and international guest artists,” said Lee. “We look forward to sharing this invaluable collaborative journey.”

The workshop will focus on musical collaboration, aiming to guide all musicians – vocalists, instrumentalists, and pianists – to enrich their knowledge related to the collaborative arts field and to become successful collaborators in making music together. LeeU Collab Music invites all pre-collegiate (high school) students, collegiate students, and teaching professionals to register for this event.

Dr. Elvia Puccinelli, from the University of North Texas, will offer a keynote speech and a vocal-instrumental-piano masterclass. Founder and president of the International Keyboard Collaborative Arts Society, Puccinelli will demonstrate effective collaboration and song/aria/sonata/concerto interpretation.

The workshop will also feature “The Collaborative Researcher,” a lecture by Dr. Nico de Villiers from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In this presentation, de Villiers will share his journey as a collaborative researcher, how he came to write about music, and the challenges and triumphs which lie beyond the covers of a book.

Cleveland Institute of Music’s Brian Sweigart will present on Eurhythmics, the study of rhythm through body movement, based on the work of educator Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. This introductory session will explore how music and movement work together to reinforce the foundational rhythmic concepts of pulse and subdivision and how those concepts can be combined in various ways to reinforce tempo, create meter, and generate polyrhythms such as two against three.

A panel discussion with the new Lee University music faculty Dr. Brian Reichenbach, trumpet, Dr. Cameron Weatherford, choral, and Dr. Muen Vanessa Wei, piano, will take place that morning. Reichenbach is an established soloist, clinician, and adjudicator. Weatherford conducts Lee’s Choral Union and Men’s Chorus and has conducted high school choirs, honor choirs, and adjudicated throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. Wei has a record of distinction and acclaim in solo piano performance and in collaborations with musicians of note.

Dr. ChoEun Lee has worked extensively in recitals and masterclasses with renowned musicians, including Stephanie Blythe, Martin Katz, Anne Sofie von Otter, and Christine Schäfer. She was named a recipient of the Grace B. Jackson Prize and of the Gwendolyn Koldofsky Keyboard Collaborative Arts scholarship four times.

Registration for LeeU Collab Music is $50. To view the event schedule or to register, visit leeucollabmusic.com.

For more information about LeeU Collab Music, email [email protected].