Born and raised in Hong Kong, LEE Kar Tai, Phoebus is an active composer, contemporary-music researcher and educator. His music and papers have been performed and presented at various significant occasions, international music festivals and university conferences: these include Arena Contemporary Music Festival, The Asian Composers League Conference and Festival, The Chinese Composers Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong Contemporary Music Festival, Hong Kong Week of Taiwan, International Rostrum of Composers, Musicarama, Hong Kong New Generation, Singapore Asian Composers Festival, SOUND-IMAGination, soundSCAPE Festival in Italy, Swiss Contemporary Music Festival, WASBE Conference, Yogyakarta Contemporary Music Festival. Numerous works were commissioned or performed by musicians and groups from France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Korea, Netherlands, Swiss, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the USA.
He writes music for concerts, multimedia-staged performances, dances, galleries and exhibitions, short films and movies. His music has always been described as poetic and refined by listeners. His music often suggests inspirations from oriental aesthetics, philosophies, and classic literatures, and displays multicultural assimilations and contemporary visions through fine techniques and sophisticated musicality.
He attained the Doctor of Music degree (D. Mus.) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He passed the doctoral oral defense at the age of 25, and was awarded the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong Scholarship during his postgraduate studies. Upon graduation, he once worked as a teaching assistant During this time, he established the New Music Ensemble for the department and served as the director and conductor. Recent years, he has been a part time lecturer at the CUHK and at the Baptist University of Hong Kong, a guest lecturer in the Education University of Hong Kong, as well as freelance presenter, editorial assistant and daily music programme director/researcher at RTHK Radio 4. He has been teaching music and conducting programmes at colleges and schools, and writing educational references. He has also been invited to teach at the Young Composers Workshop organised by Hong Kong Arts Festival and at the summer programme for gifted learners at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and for many times to be the speaker and adjudicator at seminars and music creativity programmes organised by the Hong Kong Education Bureau. Academic subjects he taught include contemporary music, music appreciation, harmony and counterpoint, orchestration, composition, 20th-century composition techniques, aural skills and musicianship, creative musicking, and, ensemble coach for traditional and modern repertoire. At various occasions, he also performs as a choral, orchestral or chamber-music conductor, harpsichordist, organist, or pianist on both traditional and contemporary works.
In recently years, part form music, he devotes himself to kyudo (the way of bow), chado (the way of tea), and kado (the way of flowers) in pursuit of understanding the meaning of life, values, and aesthetics.
Ensembles and Artistic Groups with Collaborations and Commissions
Bang On A Can All-Stars, USA Chinese Music Virtuosi, Hong Kong Chung Chi College Wind Orchestra, CUHK City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong Dawning Quartet, Hong Kong dissonArt ensemble, Switzerland Eclat Ensemble, Korea Ensemble Télémaque, France Hong Kong Band Directors Association HKEdU (HKIEd) Chorus Hong Kong New Music Ensemble Hong Kong New Music Ensemble Academy Hong Kong Wind Kamerata InTuition Creative Learning InTuition Musiking New Music Ensemble, CUHK The Learners Chorus RhapsoArts Romer String Quartet Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra UMS n’ JIP, Switzerland Yip's Children's Choir, Hong Kong
Participated Conferences, Festivals, and Music Event Series
Arena Contemporary Music Festival, Latvia Asian Composers League Conference and Festival / Taiwan, Israel, Singapore, Tokyo Chinese Composers Festival CUHK and University of Toronto Exchange CUHK and National University of Taiwan Exchange Ensemble-in-Residence, the Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Art Festival Hong Kong Contemporary Music Festival Hong Kong Week, Taiwan International Rostrum of Composers Mongolia International Festival for Contemporary and Traditional Music Musicarama, Hong Kong New Generation, Hong Kong Singapore Asian Composers Festival SOUND-IMAGination soundSCAPE Festival, Italy Swiss Contemporary Music Festival Yogyakarta Contemporary Music Festival
Officials with collaborated experience
Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong Education Bureau Hong Kong Arts Festival Hong Kong Composers' Guild Hong Kong Palace Museum Leisure and Cultural Services Department
Experienced Teaching Disciplines
University and Institutional Level, Undergraduate to Postgraduate : Appreciation of Western Music Aural Training Composition Composition Techniques Counterpoint Creative Musicking Elastic Scoring Fundamental to Advanced Harmonic Practice of Tonal Music Music Analysis Orchestration Phenomenon of Music in Classical and Romantic Era Phenomenon of Music in Renaissance and Baroque Techniques and Styles of Contemporary Music Twentieth-Century Music Material and Structure Ensemble Coach (Early music, classical, romantic, modern) New Music Ensemble
Pre-university/College : Composition Training History and Listening of Classical Music of the Western Tradition Music in the Twentieth Century and Contemporary Era
Primary and Secondary School Extra-curriculum : Composition Training Programme
Universities
The Chinese University of Hong Kong The Baptist University of Hong Kong The Education University of Hong Kong The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Collaborative Projects
Hong Kong Arts Festival InTuition/Creative Musicking Landmark Compositions in Hong Kong Music Composition Training Programme with Cultural Exploration, Quality Education Fund and HKCG School Arts Animateur Scheme, LCSD and HKCG Young Composers Showcase
Affiliations Member, Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong Council Member, Hong Kong Composers’ Guild