TEACHING

• choral music

• folk music (large and small ensembles)

• songwriting

• improvised music of all kinds

• musical theatre

• song-leading for community gatherings

• guitar and piano

Lee currently serves as the Executive Director of Pittsburgh Youth Chorus and co-directs the organization’s high school choral groups. He is available for booking as a clinician or guest teacher.

Lee Linden Saville-Iksic is a talented performer, an innovative composer, a poetic songwriter, and a passionate teacher. A versatile pianist, he is sought after as a contemporary ensemble member and as a collaborator for choral ensembles and vocal soloists. As a songwriter and arranger, his compositions have become favorites of audiences across the state of Pennsylvania, where Lee lives and works. What really sets Lee apart, however, is his ability to bring joy and warmth to all those with whom he works and plays. Lee has always endeavored to break boundaries and create spaces where all are invited to play, connect, and be themselves. Thusly, his career can been characterized by his desire to defy pigeon-holing and to foster meaningful relationships through the spreading of good will.

Born in Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands and raised in Pittsburgh’s North Hills, Lee started playing piano at the age of 6. Soon after, he was recognized for his ability to improvise and his committed, emotive performances. Classically trained, Lee delighted in learning Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms while also developing a reputation for his ability to sit in with and tastefully compliment contemporary ensembles of any genre - jazz or pop, funk or folk. In recent years, Lee has been in the line-up for the soul / R&B group, Spencer & the T-Bones, and the jazz trio, E.V.E.. Today, he is most often seen with a guitar strap over his shoulder, leading the folk-grass string-band, Lavender Blue, serving as the group’s lead singer and chief songwriter.

Earning music education degrees from Susquehanna University and Ithaca College, Lee spent 11 years teaching music in the Pennsylvania public schools. In addition to directing several choirs and teaching guitar and composition, Lee also established himself as a successful director and producer of high school musical theatre, and his students have been recognized with numerous individual and ensemble awards. During his public school tenure, he became a sought after teacher of improvisation for vocal ensembles and a recognized ambassador for intercultural music. Lee’s credits in the world of choral music also include several self-published choral arrangements and appearances as a clinician and guest conductor in local, regional, and statewide forums.  

Lee’s humanitarian spirit led him to found the nonprofit organization, Hope In Harmony. From this platform, Lee created school- and community-based programming, bringing young American musicians together with international culture-bearers for the purpose of sharing cultural music, exploring the sensitive issues surrounding cultural plurality and power dynamics, and raising funds for other humanitarian causes. Believing that young people can and should have a sense of voice and agency within society, Lee is an advocate of Self-Directed Education and other empowering practices utilized by both conventional and alternative education systems.

Lee lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Rose, and their son, Luka. In addition to his work in music, he enjoys being outdoors hiking, biking, and swimming; reading books on philosophy, psychology, and spirituality; and practicing traditional food fermentation techniques.