Everett A. Lee III: 'After just reading articles on my Dad in AfriClassical...I decided to start with this email to you.'

[Everett Lee (Photo: Jet Magazine, March 1952, via online archive]

Everett Lee is an African American conductor who was born in Wheeler, West Virginia in 1913. Bob Shingleton of the blog On An Overgrown Path initiated a research inquiry which AfriClassical reposted. The item in AfriClassical prompted Byron Hanson, Archivist of the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan, to volunteer that he had received a phone call a couple of weeks earlier from the son of Everett Lee, and that the conductor was still alive. AfriClassical and On An Overgrown Path both posted information about Everett Lee and the quest for more information on his career. Byron Hanson offered to bring the posts to the attention of Everett Lee's son. Today AfriClassical received an email from Everett A. Lee III:

Mr. William Zick,

After just reading articles on my Dad in AfriClassical, On an Overgrown Path and old clippings from Jet, as well as my conversation this month with Byron Hanson at Interlochen, I decided to start with this email to you.

Relevant information:

· I use Skype to talk to my Dad almost every day, who is retired and is living in Sweden.

· Last year I decided to start documenting his conducting works over the last 60+ years (from his notes written on the flaps of most his scores he has in his library, etc).

· My current Excel concert spreadsheet contains over 900 lines of performed works, as well as 3 other worksheets containing his Choral, Opera and Broadway performances.

I invite you and Bob Shingleton to contact me at any time to get accurate information on my Dad’s past, as well as contact information to reach him in Sweden. We have enjoyed this year long journey logging his conducting legacy and, as you can imagine, the job is not done.

Regards,

Everett (III)

Everett Lee

In our reply, which was copied to Bob Shingleton, we thanked Everett A. Lee III for contacting us and told him we felt Bob Shingleton should have the first opportunity to communicate with him, because he had launched the research inquiry.

Bob Shingleton replied:

“Bill, many thanks indeed for that. I have contacted Mr Lee junior and have suggested that our first priority should be to fill in the blanks in my incomplete outline biography. To this end I have asked him for summary information on post-1972 permanent and guest appointments. Online biographical information is self-replicating so I am anxious to get a complete if not detailed biography available asap. Another reader is translating an Estonian biography of Everett Lee from 2000 and that may also provide useful information.

“I will focus on the one simple task of filling in the biographical blanks and publishing an update of my original article to start with. When that has been done we can decide what to do next. Many thanks for making this important link and I will keep you in the loop.

Regards,

Bob”