Skip to main content

Catherine Lee

Artist Associate - Oboe

Headshot of Catherine Lee

Contact Information

Salem Campus

Address
Fine Arts East 207
900 State Street
Salem  Oregon  97301
U.S.A.
Phone
503-375-5473
503-370-6260 (Fax)

Biography

A diverse musician, oboist Dr. Catherine Lee has performed extensively on the oboe, oboe d’amore and English horn as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician in a wide range of artistic settings, including classical, contemporary, and free improvisation.

As an interdisciplinary artist, Catherine collaborated in the creation of reeds, a site-specific work composed by Emily Doolittle (Sound Symposium, 2010); with POV dance (Ten Tiny Dances, 2008); and with Tracy Broyles (Risk/Reward Festival, 2012). Catherine has performed in the oboe sections of many ensembles, including Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Oregon Symphony, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Portland Opera, Portland Cello Project, and was a tenured member of Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil from 2003 to 2008. Catherine has also performed in ensembles led by improvisers John Gruntfest, Gino Robair, and Tatsuya Nakatani.

Catherine’s doctoral research on virtuoso performers in the late eighteenth century has led to a curiosity regarding the role of improvisation both in the development of a performer’s creativity and voice and in the relationship between performers and audience. She has presented research at Performance in the Studio (2013), The Embodiment of Authority (Helsinki, 2010), The Performer’s Voice (Singapore, 2009), and the Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium (Guelph, 2010, 2012). Catherine is a licensed Andover Educator and serves on the board of directors for the Creative Music Guild (Portland, Oregon).

Catherine is a founding member of the Umbrella Ensemble and the Tardis Ensemble. She holds a bachelor’s and doctorate of music from McGill University, and a master of music and performer diploma from Indiana University. Her principal influences include Theodore Baskin, Normand Forget, Bruce Haynes and Eleanor V. Stubley. For more information, please visit www.catherinemlee.com.

Education

  • Bachelor of Music Performance (Schulich School of Music, McGill University)
  • Master of Music Performance (Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University)
  • Performer Diploma (Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University)
  • Doctor of Music in Performance Studies (Schulich School of Music, McGill University)

Selected Publications

Catherine Lee, *Remote Together. Redshift Records TK4893 2021. CD.
      *Nominee Classical Album of the Year (Solo Artist) 2022 JUNO Awards

Catherine Lee, social soundsTeal Creek Music 2305. 2013. CD.   

2018 “Musicians as Movers: Applying the Feldenkrais Method to Music Education.” In Music Educators Journal, 104 (4): 15–19.

2016 With Tomie Hahn, George Blake, Louise Campbell, et al. “Banding Encounters-Embodied Practices in Improvisation.” In Negotiated Moments: Improvisation, Sound and Subjectivity, ed. Gillian Siddall and Ellen Waterman.

2015 Reeds: Play within Shared Authority”. In Interdisziplinare Studien zur Musik, ed. Taina Riikonen and Marjanna Virtanen, 157–172. 

2010 “The Language of the Oboe Virtuoso in the Late Eighteenth Century: Part III. Johann Christian Fischer and Conclusion.” The Double Reed, 33 (3): 105–113.

2009 “The Language of the Oboe Virtuoso in the Late Eighteenth Century: Part II. August LeBrun.” The Double Reed, 32 (4): 73–84.

2009 “The Language of the Oboe Virtuoso in the Late Eighteenth Century: Part I. Introduction and Carlo Besozzi.” The Double Reed, 32 (3): 67–75.

Willamette University

Music Department

Address
Willamette University
900 State Street
Salem Oregon 97301 U.S.A.
Phone
503-370-6255
503-370-6260 FAX