Lee Abe with microphone

Image by Sandy Rivlin

Alum

Tsunenori "Lee" Abe

Professor
labe@berklee.edu
Telephone
617-747-8068
Personal Websites
Tsunenori "Lee" Abe's Website

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Tsunenori “Lee” Abe is an active composer, arranger, conductor, music director, producer, and performer based in Boston, Massachusetts. Abe has written music for many types of instrumentation, from solo piano, pop-rock bands, a cappella groups, and big bands to world-class orchestras like the Boston Pops. While Abe, a winner of the S&R Washington Award and Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival’s Best Original Arrangement, is extremely versatile in many genres, his name is especially known in the vocal jazz world and as a specialist for large ensemble concerts.

His works have been performed by many Grammy and Latin Grammy–winning artists, such as John Legend, Usher, Laufey, the Boston Pops, Joyce Moreno, and Toninho Horta, among many others. His arrangements of textbooks and music scores are published by Yamaha and UNC Jazz Press and are being performed worldwide. In addition to his composing and playing, Abe is a respected educator who travels throughout the world to give master classes for arranging, composing, producing, and vocal group singing frequently to share his passion for writing, producing, and performing music.

Career Highlights
  • Composer, arranger, producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist
  • Multiple publications through YAMAHA and UNC Jazz Press, among others
  • Musical director and arranging supervisor of Berklee's Singers Showcase, Great American Songbook, and Commencement Concerts
  • Former member and bandleader of Syncopation
  • Former musical director of Boston Jazz Voices
  • Collaboration with the Boston Pops, Winnipeg Symphony, and Longwood Symphony
  • Vocal jazz and big band clinician
Awards
  • Winner of the S&R Washington Award
  • Winner of the Best Original Arrangement at Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival
Education
  • Longy School of Music
    Massachusetts
    Master of Music (MM)
    Composition
  • Berklee College of Music
    Massachusetts
    Artist Diploma (AD)
    Jazz Composition
  • University of Tsukuba
    Japan
    Bachelor of Arts (BA)
    International Relations
In Their Own Words

I aim to provide as many real-life situations/materials as possible in the classroom, though I also provide rather conservative materials for them to get the basics at times. By the end of the semester, I want my students to be ready to take gigs in the subject(s) that I teach in the course, whether it’s recording a short a cappella jingle, writing for a large-scale ensemble for a concert, or producing a salsa recording. I may not be the easiest grader, but it’s because I want my students to be proud of their work rather than just achieving a clean college transcript.

We musicians do various works, and I am no exception. I perform, record, write, conduct, produce, and even book hotels and air for tours. We have to be good at many things, and consequently, I became good at many things. But my strength is definitely working for live music. I love working with musicians in concert settings because it’s so “human.” But if we say “live concerts” these days, they have a wide spectrum, from very simple settings to technologically complex settings. As a professional musical director, I need to be able to deal with both extremes. If my students want to become capable of what I do professionally, they have to understand how to write for real humans (which is different from just recording in DAW). They have to be able to read room dynamics and deal with emotions and egos. And, of course, they have to be able to deal with modern technologies, too. These are the things that I can contribute a lot to my students in my teaching. They can get a lot of hands-on experience, whether each individual leans toward writing, producing, or performing.