Faculty
Dr. Soojeong Lee
Dr. Soojeong Lee, born in Seoul, Korea, joined the
University of North Alabama as an Assistant Professor in Voice and Opera in
2001. She obtained her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in vocal performance from
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Music degree and a
Performance Practice Diploma from the Manhattan School of Music, and a
Bachelor's degree from Seoul National University where she won a full
scholarship.
As a recitalist and concert singer, Dr. Lee has performed in many concert halls
in the United States including Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, and Carnegie Weill
Recital Hall in New York, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts and
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Illinois, and Douglas Wilder
Performing Arts Center in Virginia. As a soloist, she has sung in Handel's
Messiah, Haydn's The Creation, Mozart's Vesperae solennes de
confessore, Mendelssohn's Hear My Prayer, Brahms’s Ein Deutsches
Requiem, and Fauré’s Requiem.
She has also taken diverse operatic roles such as Canterina in Haydn’s La
Canterina, Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Despina in Mozart’s
Cosi fan tutte, Valencienne in Lehar’s The Merry Widow, and Antonia
in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann. Most recently, she performed in
OperaSouth’s production of Amahl and the Night Visitors by Menotti, and
the UNA opera production of Gianni Schicchi by Puccini.
In addition to the traditional vocal literature of the 18th and 19th
centuries, she has equally developed her strengths in both early music and 20th
century music; she sang the role of Venere in the world premier Euridice
(as it was premiered in 1600) by Peri and Caccini at the Early Music Conference,
and has performed challenging works by 20th century composers such as Schönberg,
Dallapiccola, and Cage.
Dr. Lee has also been active in developing special research topics in vocal
music. Her projects concerning Korean folk songs and modern art songs were
selected by the College Music Society, and were presented at the 2005 CMS
International Conference in Spain. At the 2005 International Congress of Voice
Teachers 6th Conference in Vancouver, she presented her research paper on Jane
Bathori’s recital program “Première Exposition de Mélodies Françaises,” Paris,
17 May 1926. She was also invited to present a lecture-recital for the
reconstruction of Jane Bathori’s 1926 program at the 2005 CMS National
Conference in Quebec.
Dr. Lee has studied with many distinguished singers, directors, and coaches,
such as Mignon Dunn, Gabor Carelli, Nico Castel, Robert Cowart, John Wustman,
Thomas Muraco, Kathryn LaBouff, Dennis Helmrich, Eric Dalheim, Ollie Watts
Davis, Mark Elyn, and Bruce Donnell, many of whom are formerly or currently at
the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. She was also selected to sing in
master-classes of notable artists including Denyce Graves, Gabriella Tucci,
Marlena Malas, and Mikael Eliasen.
She is a member of the College Music Society, Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honorary
National Fraternity, Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, and the National
Association of Teachers of Singing. Dr. Lee teaches Applied Voice, Vocal
Diction, Vocal Pedagogy, and Vocal Literature, and directs Opera/Musical Theatre
Workshop at UNA. The productions under her directorship include Puccini's
Gianni Schicchi, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte and The Magic Flute,
and Boublil and Schönberg's Les Misérables.