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Sinhaeng Lee (DMA, 2022, Choral Music), currently serving as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Programs at Colgate University, has been named the distinguished runner-up in the first-ever MidAmerica Productions, Inc. International Choral Conducting Competition. This prestigious award, which comes with a $10,000 stipend prize and a guest solo conducting appearance at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, aims to honor and nurture rising talents in choral conducting on a world-wide basis.
Lee is a professional conductor, educator, singer, and keyboardist. He founded and serves as the artistic director of Vox Amicis, a professional ensemble in Seoul, South Korea. He is also an assistant professor of music and the director of choral programs at Colgate University. Lee holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Music, with a cognate in Performance Practice, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he studied under Dr. Andrew Megill and Dr. Charlotte Mattax Moersch.
Throughout his career, Lee has conducted a diverse range of choirs, from youth choruses to professional ensembles. During his undergraduate studies, he served as student assistant conductor of the Yonsei University Concert Choir and conducted the Yonsei University Glee Club. Lee also served as a graduate assistant conductor, preparing performances for the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which frequently collaborated with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He also held the role of music director for the Westminster Community Chorus. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he conducted the University Chorus and was recognized on the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent By Their Students in 2021.
Lee has toured Spain, Germany, Austria, Italy, and other countries to perform, and has received masterclasses from renowned conductors such as Manuel Schuen and Erwin Ortner from the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, Austria, and Lorenz Aichner from Volksoper Wien, Vienna, Austria. In 2024, Lee was a presenter at the NY-ACDA Summer Conference: Moving Forward, Singing Together, where he led the session “Korean Choral Pronunciation: Learning the Basics and Beyond.” He is also scheduled to conduct a masterclass at the NY ACDA Collegiate Conference this fall.
His honors include a Conducting Assistantship at the Carmel Bach Festival, and Conducting Fellowships with Chorus America and the National Collegiate Choral Organization. Lee was recently honored with 1st Prize in the Korean Federation for Choral Music Conducting Competition and 3rd Prize in the Korean Choral Directors Association & National Chorus of Korea Conducting Competition.