MUSE • Musicians United for Social Equity

Biography

Lee Bynum (they/them) is a composer, librettist, dramaturg, and arts leader whose creative work explores the soundscape of identity, legacy, and collective memory. For over two decades, Lee has built a life at the intersection of music, theatre, and justice—composing new works, nurturing emerging artists, and driving structural change across the performing arts sector. Their artistry is inextricably linked to their advocacy: every score, every story, every collaboration is part of a larger commitment to equity and access in the field.

Lee’s music is rooted in a classical training as a flautist and vocalist, infused with the urgency of lived experience and the rigor of historical research. Their libretti and compositions have included musical theatre, operatic, and orchestral works. Their current project, Dear Olly, a collaboration with composer Nkeiru Okoye, is an opera tracing threads of migration and resilience, commissioned by Opera North (UK) for a 2026 premiere. Lee’s creative voice draws from a deep well: a scholarly practice that examines visual culture, education, and the politics of representation; a dramaturgical lens that interrogates whose stories get told and how; and an artist’s commitment to expanding the canon beyond its traditional borders.

Lee’s leadership in the field is as dynamic as their artistry. As the founder of the Harmony Theatre Company, they built an artist-led space centering underrepresented voices—supporting the development of new works by artists historically excluded from mainstream stages. Harmony produced and presented works by emerging playwrights, composers, and choreographers across New York, while fostering international residencies that bridged cultures and disciplines. The company’s ethos of inclusion, experimentation, and artistic risk-taking was ahead of its time—laying a foundation for the kinds of IDEA-centered practices Lee has championed ever since.

At Minnesota Opera, Lee served as Vice President of Impact, launching the industry’s first department solely dedicated to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) in classical music. There, they commissioned works by underrepresented composers, built engagement strategies that expanded access to the art form, and co-founded The Score, a podcast amplifying urgent conversations on race, gender, and the future of opera—recognized by The New York Times for its critical insights and cultural relevance.

Currently, as the Executive Director of Maestra Music, Lee leads the organization’s advocacy for women and nonbinary musicians in musical theatre. Their work at Maestra focuses on mentorship pipelines, policy change, and fostering bold, community-rooted artistic collaborations. They also serve as Board Chair of the American Composers Forum, where they guided the organization through a major strategic transformation—eliminating a structural deficit, integrating disparate programs under a unified vision, and reinforcing the Forum’s commitment to uplifting composers across North America and Latin America.

Lee’s impact resonates as a dramaturg, consultant, and public scholar. They have advised on major productions at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Dream Unfinished Orchestra, American Opera Projects, and the Herberger Institute. They have taught and lectured on arts equity and musical storytelling at Yale University, Indiana University, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, and internationally at the University of Cape Town and Zhejiang Conservatory of Music. Their research and critical essays have been published by Oxford, Harvard, and NYU Press, and they have appeared in the Metropolitan Opera’s global broadcast of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X as a historian of Malcolm X’s early years.

Lee’s work is also shaped by their board service and advisory roles with the Black Feminist Project, Luna Composition Lab, Opera-Oriented Project Sponsorships, TakeRoot Justice, and Diaspora Community Services—underscoring their commitment to transforming the field from both inside and out.

For Lee, music is more than an artform—it is a vessel for empathy, a tool for justice, and a living, breathing archive of the human experience. They hold a graduate and undergraduate degrees from Columbia University, and their work continues to ask: How do we expand the stage for the many? How do we amplify voices that history has too often silenced? And how do we imagine new futures through sound, story, and shared community?