Earl Lee

Earl Lee is a conductor appearing across a full season with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, leading programs that range from holiday pops to Beethoven's "Pastoral" symphony and concertos by Rachmaninoff and Brahms. His upcoming dates suggest a conductor entrusted with an entire subscription season rather than a single guest engagement.

Across these five Ann Arbor programs, listeners can expect a wide stylistic range under Lee's direction: the open, plainspoken orchestration of Copland's "Appalachian Spring," the lyrical intensity of Barber's Violin Concerto, and the sweeping melancholy of Tchaikovsky's final symphony. Later programs pair Mozart's elegant Fifth Violin Concerto with Beethoven's nature-painting "Pastoral" Symphony, while another evening sets newer works, including pieces by Habibi and the "Blacknificent 7" project, alongside Rachmaninoff's technically formidable Third Piano Concerto. The season closer leans impressionistic and contemporary at once, joining Debussy's ocean-inspired "La Mer" with newer water-themed scores by Vivian Fung and Tod Machover, plus Brahms's stormy First Piano Concerto. A listener attending several of these concerts would hear a season built around contrast, pairing orchestral showpieces with concerto soloists and new music.