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Lee University will host a faculty recital with Drs. Nathaniel Olson, Julianne Olson, and ChoEun Lee on Sunday, March 14, at 3 p.m. in Squires Recital Hall, located in Lee’s Humanities Center.

The Scandinavian themed recital, titled “Nordic Notes,” will feature songs in Swedish by Ture Rangström for the first half and the song cycle “The Andrée Expedition” in English by the American composer Dominick Argento in the second half. The songs include texts from the letters and journals recovered from The Andrée Expedition, an 1897 North Pole exploration attempt by three Swedish explorers whose remains and supplies were recovered in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Circle.

“The program is a rare opportunity to hear songs sung in the beautiful language of Swedish and to hear a modern-day song cycle based on such a fascinating true story,” said Nathaniel Olson. “We are all very excited to perform together for this unique recital.”

Nathaniel Olson, an assistant professor of voice, joined Lee’s School of Music faculty in 2020, where he teaches courses in opera and vocal literature, chamber music, and applied voice lessons. Prior to joining Lee, Nathaniel Olson’s voice teaching experiences include roles at Wingate University, Elon University, Radford University, and Uni versitas Pelita Harapan in Indonesia. He is also a member of the 208th Army Reserve Band and frequently works with the U.S. Army for recording projects and performances.

An American baritone, Nathaniel Olson’s past performances include Leonard Bernstein’s “Trouble in Tahiti” at the Ravinia Festival, the Duke Chapel Bach Cantata Series, the Bach Society of Charleston, as Tomasz in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s “The Property,” solo recitals for the Carnegie Hall Great Singers III Series, and appearances with the symphonies of Chicago, Charleston, Peoria, and Columbus, Indiana.

Nathaniel Olson earned a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from University of North Carolina, a Master of Music (MM) from Indiana University Jacob’s School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music (BM) from Wheaton College Conservatory of Music.

Julianne Olson, soprano, is an adjunct professor in music at Lee and joined the School of Music faculty in 2020, where she teaches courses in voice and voice labs. She has trained classical and musical theatre singers at Elon University and served as coordinator of contemporary voice at Universitas Pelitas Harapan, as voice instructor at Radford University, as teaching artist at Chi cago Opera Theater Opera for All, at Midori and Friends NYC, as voice teacher at Singer’s Forum NYC, and as master class clinician throughout the Indonesian archipelago and at Kangnam University in Seoul, South Korea. This summer, she will join the summer voice faculty of Opera Viva! in Verona, Italy.

Julianne Olson, has performed in 15 countries and four continents, including with the Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Unlimited, Princeton Festival, Hungarian National Theater of Szeged and Pécs, Opera Roanoke, DiCapo Opera, Voice Afire, Manhattan Symphonie, Ravinia in Arizona and California, Rose Theater with Lincoln Center, New York Opera Studio, and Triad Stage. She has won numerous awards for her work including several from the Metropolitan Opera National Council.

Julianne Olson holds a DMA from University of North Carolina at Greensboro, an MM from New Jersey City University, and a BM from The Boston Conservatory.

In addition to their extensive soloist careers, Nathaniel and Julianne Olson have performed and taught together at concerts, universities, and venues throughout the world.

Dr. Lee serves as an assistant professor in collaborative piano and vocal coaching and is a director of LeeU Collab Music at Lee University. She has given numerous performances in Australia, Austria, Italy, Korea, New Zealand, and the U.S. and in major venues including Carnegie Hall in NYC, Ozawa Hall in Tanglewood Music Center, and Harris Concert Hall in the Aspen Music Festival. She has also worked extensively in recitals and masterclasses with renowned musicians including Stephanie Blythe, Martin Katz, Anne Sofie von Otter, and Christine Schäfer.

Dr. Lee has twice been invited to Tanglewood Music Festival and has been named a recipient of the Grace B. Jackson Prize. She has worked with many living composers and world-premiered a co-commissioned vocal chamber music for soprano, saxophone, and piano by Lori Laitman in the National Opera Center in NYC.

Lee has taught at California State University, San Bernardino as a resident-collaborative pianist, vocal and instrumental coach, and opera music director. She currently serves in the leadership team of the International Keyboard Collaborative Arts Society and the Program Committee at the Chattanooga Music Teachers Association and co-sponsors the Chattanooga Area Collegiate Chapter.

She holds a DMA from University of Southern California, an MM from University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and a BM from Kyung-Won University in Korea.

The recital is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. For tickets, visit https://www.showclix.com/event/nathaniel-olson-julianne-olson-choeun-lee-in-recital.

The recital will also be available via livestream at https://leeu.live.

For more information on the event or the Lee University School of Music, email [email protected] or call (423) 614-8240.

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