Dai-Keong Lee

Dai-Keong Lee (September 2, 1915 in Honolulu, Hawaii Territory – December 1, 2005) was a Hawaiian born Chinese-American composer. His Symphony No. 2 was runner up for the 1952 Pulitzer Prize for Music.^[1]

He studied with Roger Sessions at Princeton University, with Frederick Jacobi at the Juilliard School of Music, with Otto Luening at Columbia University, and with Aaron Copland and was living as a freelance composer in New York City .

He composed six operas, the music for the Broadway comedy Teahouse of the August Moon, a ballet, a ballet suite, two symphonies, a Polynesian suite, a dance piece and a concerto grosso for strings, a string quartet, orchestral songs, choral works and piano pieces. Joan Field premiered his violin concerto.^[2]

Sources

1. Heinz-D Fischer, Erika J. Fischer (2003). Complete Historical Handbook of the Pulitzer Prize System 1917–2000, p.264. ISBN 9783110939125.
2. Walter Powers (December 14, 1957). "Think You Got Troubles? Pity the 4 O'clock Morning Fiddler". Tampa Morning Tribune.