William Franklin Lee III

William Franklin Lee III, aka Bill Lee (20 February 1929 Galveston, Texas; d. 23 October 2011 New Smyrna Beach, Florida)^[1] was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, author, and music educator who was renowned for pioneering comprehensive music education, including jazz, at the collegiate level of a full liberal arts university. Lee was well known for having led the University of Miami School of Music to greater international influence across several music genres, particularly jazz. He served as Miami's third dean from 1964 to 1982. In 1989, he retired from the University of Miami, but, continued to work in music education at other institutions (see below). Upon his initial retirement, the University of Miami acknowledged his contribution to his discipline and to the university by awarding him two permanent titles: (i) Distinguished Professor of Music Theory and Composition Emeritus and (ii) Composer in Residence Emeritus.

Before retiring, though, Lee served as Vice-President and Provost at The University of Miami. He also served as Past-President and Past Executive Director of IAJE.^[2]

One of his sons, Will Lee (William Frankin Lee IV), is a prolific bassist and one of the original members of the bands on NBC's Late Night with David Letterman and CBS' Late Show with David Letterman, both led by Paul Shaffer.

Academic degrees

• 1945 — High School Diploma, Kirwin High School, Galveston
• 1949 — Bachelor of Music, University of North Texas College of Music
• 1950 — Master of Science, University of North Texas College of Music
• 1956 — Master of Music, Composition, University of Texas at Austin
• 1956 — PhD Music School Administration, University of Texas at Austin

Note on Lee at North Texas

When Lee received his masters of science at North Texas in 1950, he was a member of the largest spring graduating class in the history of university as of that date.^[3] His studies at North Texas exposed him to two seminal people in music education at the collegiate level, Wilfred Bain, then the Dean of the North Texas College of Music, and Gene Hall, who, in 1947, introduced at North Texas the first college degree in jazz studies in the world. Lee began his studies at North Texas in the Fall of 1945. By his sophomore year at North Texas (1946), he was a member of the Beethoven Choir – conducted by Bain – the symphony orchestra, and the Aces of Collegeland, directed by Fessor Graham.

Honors and awards

• Honorary Mus.D. from the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica in Lima, Peru
• 1988 — Inducted into the IAJE Jazz Educators Hall of Fame

Timeline as educator

1951-52 — Director of Bands at Kirwin High School, Galveston, TX

1952-55 — Professor of Music, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio

1953 — summer faculty, Trinity University, San Antonio

1954 — Distinguished Lecturer, San Antonio College

1952-55 — Special Music Instructor in the San Antonio Independent School District

1955-56 — Instructor of Theory and Assistant to the Dean of Fine Arts, The University of Texas at Austin

1956-64 — Professor of Theory-Composition and Director of the Music Department at Sam Houston State University, where he initiated their jazz studies program. One of his first assistants was renowned jazz educator Jerry Coker, who later followed Lee to The University of Miami.

1964-82 — Third Dean of the School of Music, University of Miami School of Music

1982-86 — Executive Vice President and Provost, University of Miami

1986-1989 — Distinguished Professor and Composer-in-Residence, University of Miami

1989-90 — Director of Fine Arts at Florida International University

1990-1994 — Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Humanities at the University of Texas at San Antonio

1994-95 — Professor of Music, the University of Texas at San Antonio

1972-74 — co-founder and past-president of NAJE

1995-99 — Executive Director of IAJE

Family

William Franklin Lee III was born February 20, 1929, in Galveston, Texas, to the marriage of William Franklin Lee, Jr. (1906–1991), and Annie Tillie Lee (née Keis). (Lee & Keis were married in 1927 in Galveston). William Franklin Lee III married Lois Ruth Lee (née Snyder). Together, they had four children:

1. William Franklin Lee IV (b. 1952, Bexar County, TX)
2. Robert ("Rob") Terry Lee (b. 1953, Bexar County, TX)
3. Patricia ("Pat") Lynn Lee (b. 1955, Travis County, TX)
4. Peggy Ann Lee (b. 1958, Walker County, TX)

William Franklin Lee III married his second wife, Jacqueline Tyler Lee in 1980 and they were married 25 years. They had no children.

Selected published works

• William F. Lee, Stan Kenton: Artistry in Rhythm ed. by Audree Coke Kenton, Creative Press of Los Angeles (1980)
• Music Theory Dictionary, compiled and edited by William F. Lee, Huntsville, Tex., (c1961)
• Music Theory Dictionary: The Language of the Mechanics of Music, compiled by William F. Lee, C. Hansen Educational Music and Books (c1966)
• William F. Lee III, People in Jazz: Jazz Keyboard Improvisors of the 19th & 20th Centuries: preragtime, blues, folk and minstrel, early ragtime, dixieland, ragtime-stride, blues-boogie, swing, prebop, bop Columbia Lady Music, Hialeah, FL, distributed by Columbia Pictures Publications, (c1984)
• William F. Lee, The Nature of Music, a Guide to Musical Understanding and Enjoyment, C. Hansen Educational Music and Books, Denver (c1968)
• William F. Lee III, MF Horn: Maynard Ferguson's Life in Music, The Authorized Biography, Sunflower University Press (1997)

Music compositions

• Concerto Grosso, for brass quintet and orchestra
• Earth Genesis , for string orchestra
• Alamjohoba, for band
• Introduction and Fugue, for band
• Time After Time, for band
• Suite for brass, for brass choir
• Four Sketches for Brass, C. H. Hansen (c1969) – 4 trumpets, 4 horns, 2 baritones, 3 trombones, tuba, string bass, timpani & percussion (2 players) "Elite 23"
• Fanfare for Ralph, for brass choir
• Piece for Brass, for brass quintet
• Mosaics, for brass quintet
• Regimentation, for brass quintet
• Nocturne, for flute and piano
• Soliloquy, for horn and piano
• Mini-Suite, for trumpet and piano
• Three Reflections, for alto saxophone and piano
• Interlude, for guitar
• Tone Poem, for oboe, violin, viola, 2 celli
• Two Woodwind quintets
• Piano Pieces^[4]

See also

• List of jazz arrangers

References