June Lee is a pianist, educator, arranger, composer, and transcriber whose work is rooted in the jazz piano tradition and informed by classical counterpoint, vocal arranging, contrapuntal voice leading, and the coloristic harmonic language of twentieth-century concert music. Drawing from bebop and post-bop improvisation as well as contemporary commercial and hybrid styles, he translates these influences into performance, reharmonization, arranging, and teaching through close listening, analysis, and creative application.

As a performer, Lee was the pianist and featured soloist on Life in Poetry & Music, Richard DeRosa’s 2022 collaboration with Kurt Elling and the University of North Texas Studio Orchestra, and has appeared with artists including Bobby McFerrin, Jacob Collier, Chris Thile, Becca Stevens, Cedric Dent, Darmon Meader, Tierney Sutton, Scott Tixier, Quincy Davis, and Davy Mooney. From 2017 to 2020, he worked with Chick Corea as a transcriber, score engraver, and editor, an experience that further deepened the listening precision and notational fluency that continue to shape his work. As an arranger, editor, and transcriber, he has worked closely with Collier, with contributions appearing in Songs of Jacob Collier: Selections for Piano & Voice (Hal Leonard / Hajanga Records). He also maintains a YouTube channel devoted to jazz reharmonization, analysis, and transcription.

His research focuses on reharmonization, voice leading, and pedagogical frameworks that help students hear, analyze, and create harmony with greater fluency. His forthcoming book, Reharmonization: Function, Verticality, and Horizontality, draws on musical examples from influential harmonic voices in jazz, including Clare Fischer, Keith Jarrett, Fred Hersch, Brad Mehldau, Take 6, and Jacob Collier, and connects transcription, analysis, and creative practice through an accessible pedagogical approach. This work has shaped workshops and presentations in the United States and South Korea, including guest artist appearances at the Seoul Institute of the Arts in 2023 and Jacob Collier’s Hideaway Retreat in 2025.

Born and raised in South Korea, Lee began his studies at Indiana University Bloomington as a classical composition major before turning to jazz voice and later jazz piano, a shift that brought his interests in harmony, arranging, and improvisation into sharper focus. He holds a B.M. in Jazz Studies (Voice) and an M.M. in Jazz Studies (Piano) from Indiana University Bloomington, and a D.M.A. in Jazz Performance (Piano) with a related field in Music Theory from the University of North Texas, where he performed with the One O’Clock Lab Band, served as a graduate teaching fellow, and now teaches as an Adjunct Instructor of Jazz Studies. His principal teachers have included Dave Meder, Luke Gillespie, Joe Gilman, Darmon Meader, and Steve Zegree.