Program 778: 100 Years of Benjamin Lees
KALW Broadcast Date: March 24, 2024 | Host: Joseph Bohigian
2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of composer Benjamin Lees (January 8, 1924–May 31, 2010). To celebrate, we’re broadcasting some archival interviews with Lees from the Other Minds Archives. Lees was born in Harbin, Manchuria to Jewish parents who had fled pogroms in Ukraine. His family moved to the United States the next year, settling in San Francisco. He was a student of George Antheil and came into public attention as a composer in the 1950s, receiving commissions from major American orchestras. The program includes a 1971 interview with Lees on KPFA with recordings of his Piano Sonata No. 4 and Symphony No. 3, a 1985 KPFA Morning Concert program, and a rare 1970 interview on the topic of Lees’ teacher, the American composer George Antheil.
