Professor of Piano
glee@westliberty.edu
GERALD LEE is Professor of Piano at West Liberty University (West Liberty, West Virginia), where he has been a full-time faculty member since 2002. He won the 2007-08 Excellence in Professional Activity Award at WLU. From 2004 -2016, he served as Coordinator of WLU’s Concert Artist Series.
He enjoys maintaining an extensive schedule of solo and chamber music performances, the latter including recitals with esteemed faculty colleagues at WLU as well as guest luminaries, such as Faith Esham (soprano), John Rommel (trumpet), Jeremy Black (violin), and Erina Laraby-Goldwasser (viola). Solo recitals have been performed throughout the U.S. on numerous concert series, at colleges and universities, and for chamber music societies. His 2010 solo recital for the Charleston (West Virginia) Chamber Music Society was lauded by the Charleston Daily Mail as an “overwhelming musical success…Gerald Lee upheld the Charleston Chamber Music Society’s reputation for bringing top-rated artists to their Christ Church United Methodist venue.”
Competition accolades include winning the 2009 Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) Concert Society Major Artist Auditions, 1st place in the 2002 National Society of Arts and Letters Piano Competition (Lansing, Michigan), 2nd place in the 2002 National Finals of the MTNA (Music Teachers’ National Association) Collegiate Artists’ Piano Competition (Cincinnati, Ohio), and 3rd place in the 2003 International Beethoven Piano Sonata Competition (Memphis, Tennessee).
Dr. Lee is dedicated to and passionate about piano teaching. He has presented numerous master classes at venues such as Virginia Commonwealth University, Mary Baldwin College, Youngstown State University, Duquesne University, Mansfield University, Mercyhurst University, West Virginia University, Marshall University, Fairmont State University, and Shepherd University among others. He is most pleased and grateful for his students’ accomplishments which include first place awards in the 2013, 2014, and 2015 Mountain State Collegiate Piano Competition, held by the West Virginia Music Teachers’ Association.
He is a frequent adjudicator for piano competitions, such as those held by MTNA at both the state and division levels. Passionate about the works of Alexander Scriabin, he has presented lecture-recitals featuring Scriabin’s piano sonatas at numerous CMS (College Music Society) conferences, including the 2014 National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Additionally, he served on the Program Selection Committee for the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of CMS in 2012, 2013, and 2015.
Since 2004, the service that Dr. Lee provides for WVMTA (West Virginia Music Teachers’ Association – the state arm of its parent organization, MTNA) is both important and rewarding. He is currently Second Vice President and Membership Chair (2017-2023). During 2013-2015, he served as Chair of Competitions, coordinating all MTNA, Mountain State, and Adagio Strings events for all age groups and all instruments. In 2017, WVMTA honored him with the Distinguished Leader of the Year Award.
Dr. Lee earned three piano performance degrees: Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts from Illinois Wesleyan University, the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, respectively. Additionally, cognate fields of study were completed in music theory and musicology at Indiana University and the University of Michigan, respectively.
He is forever grateful to the following artist-teachers for their unconditional support, vast wisdom, and musical guidance: Virginia Sandford, the late Lawrence Campbell, Andrew Cooperstock, Reiko Neriki, Logan Skelton, Arthur Greene, and the late Distinguished Professor György Sebök.
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