Roc Lee, composer and pianist, is currently pursuing his Masters in Music Composition with an emphasis in Stage Music at The Catholic University of America’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music under the advisement of Dr. Andrew E. Simpson. He graduated from the Houghton College Greatbatch School of Music in the Spring of 2007 with a Bachelor’s in Music Composition magna cum laude under Dr. Mark Hijleh. He has also attended the Pacific North West Film Scoring Program under Emmy Award-winning composer Hummie Mann. In the fall of 2009, Roc studied Opera in the English Language and Orchestration at New College, Oxford under Dr. Michael Burden and Dr. John Traill.

Roc’s work focuses on exploring the possibilities of dramatic collaboration across art forms and has worked on music for dance, incidental music, opera, and musical theatre, in addition to film and video game music. He also does work in music transcription, music production, recording and sound work.

Roc is particularly interested in issues of social justice and has served as an AmeriCorps volunteer in Los Angeles from August of 2007 to August of 2008. He worked at Chrysalis, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping economically and socially disadvantaged individuals become self-sufficient through long-term employment. As an employment specialist, Roc engaged directly with clients in goal planning, managing stress, accountability, advocacy, presentation, computer literacy, interviewing skills, and resume preparation. Roc’s work in social service helped to inform his research interests on Music Education in Prisons and his article, Music Education in Prisons: A Historical Overview, was recently published in the International Journal of Community Music, volume 3 no. 1, 2010.

Roc produced his master’s thesis, the Crossroad, a chamber opera in one-act, on September 4, 2010 as part of the Kennedy Center’s annual Page-to-Stage Festival and in a staged workshop production on September 5, 2010 at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music’s Ward Recital Hall. He is currently working on completing the final scene and revising the score.