School of Music Visiting Artist Series
Monday, April 24, 2017, 2-4 pm
Monday, April 24, 2017, 4-6 pm
“I passionately believe by practicing art we can commune with spirits to express and share our thoughts and ideas on vital issues such as identity, politics, nature and spirituality.” – Dohee Lee
Born on Jeju Island in South Korea, Dohee Lee studied Korean dance, music, percussion and vocals at the master level. Since her arrival in the US she has been a vital contributor to both the traditional and contemporary arts landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Dohee’s work focuses on integration of traditional forms and contemporary arts through music, movement, images, costumes and installations. Lee's distinctive and profound performance style evokes the full spectrum of human emotion, the primordial, futuristic, visible and invisible realms.
“Lee unfurled an extraordinary lexicon of vocal colors, tones and textures.Yet she deftly controlled these otherworldly sounds…with her sinuous, thoroughly personalized one-woman choreography, self-styled art form." –Chicago Tribune
Born out of her desire to explore new art forms, Lee founded the Puri Project in 2004 to present interdisciplinary works that embrace the ritualistic and healing aspects of performance. She was the recipient of the Isadora Duncan Special Award honoring Outstanding Achievement for her piece “FLUX”, performed at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 2008. She has performed in venues and festivals around the world and has collaborated with a wide range of artists such as dancers/choreographers Anna Halprin, Shinichi Iova-Koga’s inkBoat, Amara Tabor-Smith, Sherwood Chen, Yannis Adoniou’s Kunst-Stoff, the Degenerate Art Ensemble, Sue Li-Jue’s Facing East Dance and Music, and musicians/composers ETHEL, Larry Ochs, Scott Amendola, Joan Jeanrennaud, Theresa Wong, Francis Wong, and Tatsu Aoki. She has been awarded artist residencies at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, the Watermill Center inNew York with the Degenerate Art Ensemble, the Headlands Center for the Arts, the Paul Dresher Artist Residency Center, the Montalvo Arts Center and Djerassi Art Center. In 2010, she appeared at Carnegie Hall with Kronos Quartet, performing her original composition, Sinawi and at Teatro Municipal de Lima in Peru with Pauchi Sasaki and Collective (((OIE))) "MURU"
A commitment to teaching is also encompassed in her artistic vision. Lee acted as artistic director and instructor at the Korean Youth Cultural Center from 2002 to 2008, resident artist and instructor at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center from 2008 to 2013, and has been a guest instructor at San Francisco State University, Saint Mary’s College, UC Berkeley and Northern Illinios University and she is currently faculty at Tamalpa institute.