Creator of the infamous Music Theory Interview, June Lee is an incredibly brilliant and extremely hardworking musician.

He's the pianist for The Singing Hoosiers at Indiana University, studies at the Jacobs School of Music, and most notably, is Jacob Collier's de facto transcriber.

In 2015, Lee won the Downbeat Magazine Undergraduate Jazz Arrangement category for his arrangement "A Cappella Christmas Medley."

June expresses both his pianistic viewpoint and his love of singing and lush harmony in his arranging voice. We are excited for the encouragement provided by DownBeat in recognition of the outstanding potential June possesses in this area.

-Ly Wilder, Jacobs School of Music

Lee's transcription of the Grammy Award-winning "You and I" by Jacob Collier

FloVoice: How did you get started transcribing Jacob Collier's music?
June Lee: A friend of mine showed me Jacob's music in 2013, but I didn't really dig it mainly because I couldn't understand his musical ideas back then. I was a freshman classical music composition major at that time, and I developed an interest in singing so I changed my major to jazz voice my sophomore year. In the fall of 2015 (my senior year of college), I got interested in jazz piano and started transcribing a lot of Bill Evans. That experience opened my eyes for harmonic possibilities.

Then I re-listened to Jacob's music and it was a whole another experience because I felt that I could somewhat understand his ideas. I waited for about a year, hoping some crazy person would transcribe him. I eventually got tired of it and decided to do it myself.

What goes into each transcription?
It's a really challenging process (each transcription takes 40-100 hours), and it sometimes drives me crazy. But, I think I keep doing it because it's fun; it's like a treasure hunt. All the chords, voicing, and ideas are like hidden gems. I love learning, and I also love the feeling of not completely knowing what I'm going to learn.

Lee's transcription of "Fascinating Rhythm"

What are some of your hobbies?
Aside from obvious answers (playing piano, singing, listening to music, etc.), my hobbies would include staring at the ceiling not knowing what I should be working on at the moment, Overwatch, and occasionally playing ultimate frisbee.

What's on the horizon for you?
For huge projects... I want to finish a book that deals with harmony and arranging concepts.

Lee's series "Deciphering Jacob Collier"

Favorite song: "Hideaway" by Jacob Collier.

Brand of toothpaste: Whatever looks nice in Target.

Doing now: My master's degree in jazz piano at Indiana University.



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