Mendel Lee is a composer and Innovative Percussion sponsored Educational Artist residing in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is currently the percussion instructor and operations coordinator of the Tulane University Marching Band in New Orleans, Louisiana and the Lead Music Engineer of Galaxy Interactive, LLC, in Springfield, Oregon. He is also the founder and musical director of nienteForte, a contemporary music ensemble formed within Tulane University.
Mendel has received high acclaim for his creative vision as a composer and artist. Timpani Forces (2011), commissioned by David Constantine, former Assistant Principal Timpanist of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and performed as part of the 9th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music in San Francisco, CA, has been praised by composers and performers alike as “…pushing the envelope… doing something that no other piece of solo timpani literature has ever done.” His 2009 video composition Chain Factor Chaos was praised by Frank Lantz, creative director and co-founder of area/code games, as “strangely expressing something subtle and profound about the beauty of games… located somewhere between the game itself and the performance of the player.”
An advocate of music technology, Mendel has composed numerous interactive works for computer and live performer as well as interactive installations using infrared motion sensors controlled by performers’ or audience members’ hand and body movements. He has also been a pioneer of using Google Hangouts as a medium for performance art with his musical series Shifting Signals and as a conduit to stream the Tulane University Marching Band performing Mardi Gras parades live. He has taught music technology classes at West Chester University and the University of Oregon, and has worked as the audio engineer and coordinator for the Future Music Oregon Electronic Music Concerts working with esteemed artists including Jeffrey Stolet, Chris Chafe, Allen Strange, Brian Belet, and Barry Truax.
Mendel’s experience as a member of the West Chester University Marching Band and the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps and as an instructor with World Class Drum and Bugle Corps including the Jersey Surf and the Glassmen has helped him build success as a creative designer and instructor for numerous high school and collegiate marching band organizations nationwide. In his debut year as the creative designer for Hermiston High School’s Marching Band, his show earned them placement in finals for the first time in their program’s history. During his tenure with the Tulane University Marching Band, he has helped coordinate performances and logistics for their participation in high profile national events including the New Orleans Saints Superbowl Victory Parade, the Krewe of NFL Kickoff Parade, and Wheel of Fortune College Week in New Orleans.
In his spare time, Mendel is an amateur poker player and a member of the Poker Player Alliance, cashing in 8th place in 2009 and 1st place in 2011 of the Pot Limit Omaha tournament of the Winter Bayou Poker Challenge held in Harrah’s New Orleans. He is also a registered minister of the Universal Life Church whose ability to foster a personable and memorable wedding experience has given him demand as a wedding officiant in Louisiana, Oregon, and Hawaii.
