"... a composer of remarkable skill ..."

"... music of the highest quality in craftsmanship, inventiveness and imagination"

"... a composer with a consistent voice and a sure-fire dramatic sense"

"... an incredible orchestral tour de force ..."

"... a composer who thinks in big, bold gestures and heroic emotions"

"... a major work deserving of national attention ... this concerto verges on masterpiece"

"... a wonderfully tuneful, beautifully scored violin concerto that very easily could find its way into the modern repertoire"

"... an important addition to today's musical scene"

See Reviews page for full quotes

Featured Video

View complete performance

Featured Audio Clip

Excerpt from Meditation for Violin and Orchestra 

See Works page for more audio excerpts

News & Upcoming Performances

The Skaneateles Festival has commissioned Lee Actor to write a new work for chamber orchestra, thanks to a generous donation by Julie and Jary Shimer. The as yet unnamed new work will be premiered at the summer 2011 Skaneateles Festival, located near Syracuse, NY.

Redwood Fanfare was performed by the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra on May 7, 2010 at Benjamin Franklin Middle School Auditorium in Ridgewood, New Jersey, conducted by Arkady Leytush. The work was selected as one of three winning compositions in the orchestra's 2009 Fanfare Competition, held in honor of the their 70th anniversary celebration.

Charles Gavin performed Concerto for Horn and Orchestra with the Orchestra of the Pines on April 24, 2010 in Cole Concert Hall on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus in Nacogdoches, Texas, conducted by Gene Moon. Dr. Gavin is Professor of Horn at SFASU.

The U.S. Air Force Concert Band and principal timpanist Senior Master Sergeant Erica Montgomery performed the Concerto for Timpani and Band six times on their spring April 2010 tour. The performances, conducted by Commander and Music Director Lieutenant Colonel Alan Sierichs, took place between 4/13 and 4/24 in various cities throughout Illinois, Kentucky, and West Virginia.

The world premiere of Dance Rhapsody took place on April 10, 2010 at the Cubberley Theatre in Palo Alto, California, and on April 11, 2010 at McAfee Theatre in Saratoga, California. The Palo Alto Philharmonic, who commissioned the piece, was conducted by the composer.

Virtuoso saxophonist Ashu and the Mission Chamber Orchestra performed the world premiere of Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra on February 14, 2010 for an enthusiastic audience at Le Petit Trianon in San Jose, California. The MCO, conducted by Emily Ray, commissioned the concerto for Ashu.

On September 17, 2009, ASCAP® named Lee Actor the recipient of an ASCAPlus Award for 2009-2010. The purpose of the ASCAPlus awards is to reward composers whose works have a unique prestige value for which adequate compensation would not otherwise be received, and to compensate those writers whose works are performed substantially in media not surveyed by ASCAP. This is the seventh consecutive year that Actor has been honored with this award.

Lee Actor: Violin Concerto (Albany Records TROY1017) was nominated for 2008 "Best of the Year" classical CD by Classical 94.5/WNED in Buffalo, NY.

Patrick Hughes performed Concerto for Horn and Band with the highly acclaimed University of Texas Wind Ensemble on September 27, 2009 in Austin, Texas, conducted by Jerry Junkin. Mr. Hughes is Associate Professor of Horn at the University of Texas at Austin.

Charles Dowd performed Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra with the Oregon Coast Music Festival Orchestra on July 23, 2009 in Coos Bay, Oregon, conducted by Jason Klein. Mr. Dowd is a Philip H. Knight professor of music and a faculty performing artist at the University of Oregon, and is principal timpanist of the Eugene Symphony and several other orchestras.

Bernhard Scully performed Concerto for Horn and Orchestra accompanied by pianist Arlene Kies on June 25, 2009 in a recital at the Kendall Betts Horn Camp in Lyman, New Hampshire.

Violinist Alejandro Gómez Guillén performed Meditation for Violin and Orchestra with the Eastern Washington University Orchestra on June 4, 2009 at Showalter Auditorium in Cheney, Washington, conducted by Julián Gómez Giraldo.

Patrick Hughes performed Concerto for Horn and Orchestra with the St. Olaf Orchestra on May 23, 2009 at Skoglund Auditorium in Northfield, Minnesota, conducted by Steven Amundson. Mr. Hughes is Associate Professor of Horn at the University of Texas at Austin.

Jason Klein led the Saratoga Symphony in the world premiere of Opening Remarks on May 3, 2009 at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Saratoga, California.

Percussionist Glenn Webb performed the U.S. premiere of Concerto for Timpani and Band with the Dixie State College Symphony Band on April 16, 2009 in the Concert Hall of the Eccles Fine Arts Center in St. George, Utah, conducted by Gary Caldwell. Mr. Webb is Chairman of the Music Department at Dixie State College.

Bernhard Scully performed the world premiere of Concerto for Horn and Band with the University of South Dakota Symphonic Band on March 23, 2009 in the Colton Recital Hall of the Warren M. Lee Center for the Fine Arts on the campus of the University of South Dakota, conducted by Dr. Kenneth Drobnak.

Jeffrey Snedeker performed Concerto for Horn and Orchestra with the Central Washington University Symphony Orchestra on March 15, 2009 in the Music Building Concert Hall at Central Washington University, conducted by Nikolas Caoile. Dr. Snedeker is Professor of Horn at CWU and is currently in his second term as President of the International Horn Society.

Andrew Levin led the South Carolina Senior All-State Orchestra in a performance of Prelude to a Tragedy on March 1, 2009, in Twichell Auditorium at Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Dr. Levin is an associate professor of music at Clemson University.

Violinist David Felberg, associate concertmaster of the New Mexico Symphony, performed Concerto for Violin and Orchestra with the Palo Alto Philharmonic on February 21, 2009 at Cubberley Theatre in Palo Alto, California, and on February 22, 2009 at McAfee Theatre in Saratoga, California, conducted by Thomas Shoebotham.

Pip Clarke performed the South American premiere of Concerto for Violin and Orchestra with the Orquesta Filarmónica del Ecuador on February 19, 2009 at Casa de la Música in Quito, Ecuador, conducted by Music Director Patricio Aizaga. Ms. Clarke, to whom the piece is dedicated, premiered the concerto in 2006.

Timpanist Wen-Ting Huang performed the world premiere of Concerto for Timpani and Band with the National Taiwan Normal University Symphonic Band on February 16, 2009 in Ya-Yinh Concert Hall at National Tainan University, conducted by Professor Shu-Han Yeh.

Violinist Leslie Taylor Warlick performed Meditation for Violin and Orchestra with the Clemson University Symphony Orchestra on December 2, 2008 at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts in Clemson, South Carolina, conducted by Andrew Levin. Dr. Warlick teaches violin and viola in the Department of Performing Arts at Clemson University.

The Nova Vista Symphony has named Lee Actor as Assistant Conductor. Nova Vista was established in 1966 and is based in Northern California in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Horn soloist Bernhard Scully and the Colorado Symphony performed Concerto for Horn and Orchestra to a rousing standing ovation at the 40th International Horn Symposium on July 23, 2008 in Gates Concert Hall at the University of Denver, led by Associate Conductor Scott O'Neil. Mr. Scully is a former member of the world renowned Canadian Brass, and is currently principal horn of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

The Missouri Symphony Orchestra performed Celebration Overture on June 7, 2008 at the gala celebration opening of the newly restored Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts in Columbia, Missouri, conducted by Kirk Trevor.

The Palo Alto Philharmonic performed the encore performance of Celebration Overture, written in honor of their 20th season anniversary, on May 18, 2008 at the Cubberley Theatre in Palo Alto, California, conducted by the composer.

On May 11, 2008, radio station KUAT-FM in Arizona devoted an entire hour to the newly released Albany Records CD Lee Actor: Violin Concerto. The works played were Concerto for Violin and Orchestra and Symphony No. 2.

Albany Records released the album Lee Actor: Violin Concerto in April 2008. The CD contains Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, with violin soloist Pip Clarke, Symphony No. 2, and Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra, with timpani soloist Stuart Chafetz. Kirk Trevor conducts the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra in all three works.

Purchase this CD

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra was selected as First Prize Winner in the 2007 International Horn Society Composition Contest. The IHS, which worldwide has more than 3500 members from 55 countries, received a record number of entries from 16 different nations. An article on the winning compositions appeared in The Horn Call, the official journal of the International Horn Society.

Jason Klein led the Saratoga Symphony in a spirited performance of Symphony No. 2 on January 20, 2008 at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Saratoga, California.

The Palo Alto Philharmonic performed the world premiere of Celebration Overture, written in honor of their 20th season anniversary, on October 20, 2007 at the Spangenberg Theatre in Palo Alto, California, conducted by Thomas Shoebotham.

Variations and Fugue for Orchestra was selected as a finalist in the 2007 American Composer Competition of the Columbia Orchestra.

Hornist Christophe Gillet performed the world premiere of Concerto for Horn and Orchestra with the Silicon Valley Symphony, which commissioned the work, on May 19, 2007 at the Presbyterian Church of Los Gatos in Los Gatos, California, Michael Paul Gibson conducting.  Maestro Gibson and the SVS also performed Prelude to a Tragedy on the same program.

The Peninsula Symphony performed Variations and Fugue for Orchestra on subscription concerts on May 18, 2007 at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City, California, and on May 19, 2007 at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California, conducted by Geoffrey Gallegos.

The Palo Alto Philharmonic performed the world premiere of Symphony No. 2 on February 24, 2007 at the Cubberley Theatre in Palo Alto, California, conducted by the composer.

Pip Clarke, an internationally renowned violinist, performed the world premiere of Concerto for Violin and Orchestra with the Mission Chamber Orchestra on April 22, 2006 at Le Petit Trianon Theatre in San Jose, California, conducted by Emily Ray. The premiere received a rave review in the San Mateo County Times. The MCO commissioned the concerto in honor of their 10th season anniversary.

On March 15, 2006, the American Music Center awarded Lee Actor a grant through their Composer Assistance Program for the premiere of Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.

Jason Klein conducted the Y.O.S.A.C. Symphony Orchestra (senior orchestra of the Youth Orchestras of Southern Alameda County) in a performance of Variations and Fugue for Orchestra on March 12, 2006, at the CSU East Bay University Theatre in Hayward, California.

Stuart Chafetz, principal timpanist of the Honolulu Symphony, performed the world premiere of Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra with the Palo Alto Philharmonic on February 18, 2006 at the Cubberley Theatre in Palo Alto, California, conducted by Ann Krinitsky.

Andrew Levin conducted the Clemson University Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Prelude to a Tragedy on November 29, 2005, in Clemson, South Carolina.

Kirk Trevor conducted the Ball State Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Prelude to a Tragedy on October 2, 2005 at the Sursa Performance Hall on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

Variations and Fugue for Orchestra was selected as a finalist in the 2005 Composition Competition of the Holyoke Civic Symphony.

MMC Recordings released the album Lee Actor - Music for Orchestra in June 2005. The CD features performances by Kirk Trevor and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Purchase this CD

Prelude to a Tragedy was selected as a finalist in the Columbia Orchestra's 2005 American Composer Competition.

Volume Five of the Masterworks of the New Era CD series, including Robert Ian Winstin's recording of Prelude to a Tragedy with the Kiev Philharmonic, was released by ERM Media in March 2005.

Purchase this CD