Concert pianist draws inspiration from composers, performance

During his four years at IU, senior Jason Lee became an artistic Renaissance man. Graduating in December, Lee said his final goodbye to IU in a recital Saturday in the Frangipani Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.\n"I'm sad and I'm nervous, because I'm leaving college," Lee said. \nThe performance combined Lee's two loves -- classical music and acting. It was a one-man act presented in an intimate setting, with all of Lee's closest friends and associates. \nLee's sister Rebecca Burke is very proud of him and has enjoyed his success. \n"Seeing him perform is wonderful," Burke said. "It has been beautiful watching him evolve."\nLee, majoring in piano performance and theater and drama, has made a lot of memories here on campus. He has been the president of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and has a successful concert piano career. He is a two-time bronze medal winner of the American Music Scholarship Association World Piano Competition. The win gave Lee the opportunity to play at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He was a also a first place winner in the DeBose National Piano Competition and a three-time winner of the Beethoven Young Artist Festival.\nOriginally from St. Louis, Lee received the Dean of Music Award for Concert Piano when he entered IU in 1999. Many of his peers say Lee has always been an entertainer, even before he entered college. \nLee said one of the most memorable moments is during a summer piano camp when he played a duet with a friend. During the performance, instead of sliding over the pieces of sheet music, he threw each one to the ground. His actions received mixed reviews, but it foreshadowed what was to come. \n"I've always been an entertainer, I was always interested," Lee said. "But I didn't know much about how to go about it."\nLee said he loves piano, but he was always drawn to acting. He has performed widely with IU Theatre, including Junny Buggy in "Playing the Bones," the title role in "Othello" and Jabber/Chilli in "In The Blood." \n"In high school, I would stop watching the movie and pay more attention to the art of the acting, like how the characters did certain things or how they could pull on so many emotions," he said. \nIn his performance Saturday night, Lee played pieces by Claude Debussy and Frederick Chopin. He acted parts from "Top Dog/Underdog" by Susan Laurie Parks, "Funhouse" by Eric Bogisian and "Much Ado About Nothing" by William Shakespeare. The pieces formed a unique montage, but each one represents something different for Lee.\n"They're a big contrast," he said. "I picked them to show my versatility."\nHe said he chose "Top Dog/Underdog" because it is powerful, and Debussy for the parallels between his personality and that of the composer.\n"Every time I perform, I like to portray a picture," Lee said. "And Debussy is impressionistic."\nThe "Top Dog/Underdog" performance moved the audience, as he acted out an emotional scene about Boot killing his older brother Lincoln over a card game.\nJunior Eric Saunders had nothing but good things to say about Lee's show.\n"I had seen the play in New York, and I really liked his 'Top Dog/Underdog' performance," he said. "It was real, especially the last scene."\nFor his final piece, Lee played "Fantasy Impromptu" by Chopin. Lee selected this piece because he said it is a culmination of his college career. \n"The rhythm is four against three, which has been my overall struggle in college to balance two things and bring it together," Lee said. \nAs Lee looks forward to the future, he is ready to move on. He will be the musical director of "West Side Story" at the St. Louis Community Theater, which premieres Feb.13. After that, he plans to move to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career.\n"I've done music my whole life, but my passion is acting," Lee said. "I think music opened the door for acting."\n-- Contact staff writer Patrice Worthy at pworthy@indiana.edu.