Mendel Lee (he/him) (b. 1975) is a music professional whose career oscillates between composition/artistic entrepreneurship and music education/pageantry arts. His work has been performed across the globe, including the World Expo 2020 Dubai, and his artistic vision has earned him recognition as a National Performance Network (NPN) Take Notice Fund grantee. His music has been described as “finding the right balance between minimalist… [static] space and forward motion and trajectory.” His solo timpani work Timpani Forces has been praised as a “…virtuosic tour de force…[whose] attention to melodic and lyrical content and the creative use of glissandi result in a unique addition to the repertoire.”
A passionate new music advocate, Mendel is the Founding Executive Director of nienteForte Contemporary Music, and the Co-Founder and an Executive Team Member of Toolbox Sessions, an organization whose mission is to connect composers and orchestrators with experienced new music performers and collaborators to delve into effective writing for their respective instruments and voices.
Mendel performs regularly as a percussionist with Versipel New Music. He has also performed as a brass band snare drummer for various national and international events, including the “Shakespare 400” jazz funeral in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, and the 2022 NCAA Final Four “Fan Fest”.
In his spare time, he enjoys a myriad of amateur hobbies including cooking (and eating), data analytics and spreadsheets, branding/graphic design, audio/video/motion graphics production, poker, and tabletop and video games.