A second-place finish in the third annual Jâca Emerging Composers Competition (ECC) kicked off the month of June for UF assistant professor of composition Scott Lee, who is set to release a new album later this year.  

Lee’s “Evasive Maneuvers” piece, written for clarinet and guitar, was one of nearly 30 submissions from across the U.S., Canada, Argentina and Israel entered in ECC, which aims to create new clarinet and guitar music while supporting composing careers. 

The recognition means that “Evasive Maneuvers” will be performed and promoted internationally by Jâca, which Lee told Mainstreet is affirming and exciting to have his music reach more people. 

“For this piece to have more of a life and continue making its way through the world is exciting,” he said. “The whole goal of writing music is to have as many people play it as often as possible. They’ll bring it to different audiences that I wouldn’t be able to bring it to otherwise.” 

Jâca Music is a U.S.-based, award-winning duo featuring Wesley Ferreira on clarinet and Jaxon Williams on guitar. The group has played in communities across the world and aims to add meaning to their music through programs such as ECC and the Jâca Cultural Exchange Program, which supports underserved musical communities. 

According to a press release, Jâca said Lee’s “Evasive Maneuvers” piece stood out for its bold textures, propulsive energy and imaginative interplay between the instruments. 

“We were immediately struck by the musical drive and character in ‘Evasive Maneuvers,’” Ferreira said. “It’s a piece that challenges both performers and listeners in the best possible way, and we’re excited to bring it to life in future performances.” 

Lee, a 37-year-old St. Petersburg native who started teaching at UF in 2019, said composing the 10-minute piece took around six months to complete. He said the endeavor of piecing together new rhythms he liked was purely musical, without any ulterior messages for the notes to communicate. 

Lee said he crafted “Evasive Maneuvers” specifically to get guitarist and UF Director of Guitar Studies, Silviu Ciulei, to do what he does best, and pair it with clarinet. 

“I wanted to take advantage of the kinds of things [Ciulei] can do,” Lee said. “I included these different kinds of flamenco techniques [like] rasqueado, which is a very fast, rapid strumming that’s percussive and gives a striking effect.” 

Lee said that while the wind sound of the clarinet and strummed strings on the guitar complement each other, they aren’t a usual pairing. 

The clarinet is more of a melodic instrument because only one note can be played at a time, whereas the guitar is harmonic and can play multiple notes at once to make chords. Lee said the challenge in writing “Evasive Maneuvers” came from breaking tradition and having the instruments take on different roles throughout the piece. 

“It’s called ‘Evasive Maneuvers’ because even when the guitar accompanies the clarinet, they’re rhythmically sort of independent,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like they’re really together, but they still follow each other in these kinds of snakelike ways where they’re sneaking around each other.” 

Lee’s next project is composing a 15- to 20-minute string sextet piece that his friends will perform at the Flatirons Chamber Music Festival in Boulder, Colorado, next summer. 

Brigham Young University’s Barlow Endowment for Music Composition selected Lee out of around 200 applicants last August to write the piece, which Lee said he originally planned to complete this year but had to hold off on after he and his wife had their second child.  

Within the next six months, Lee also plans to release a new album that debuted at UF in November titled “Greetings from Florida: Postcards from Paradise.” He said he wrote the music for Chilean jazz guitarist and singer Camila Meza, who’s accompanied by other UF professors and local musicians like his wife, a cellist. 

Unlike “Evasive Maneuvers,” Lee said the Florida-centric album’s song cycle does carry a message and aims to explore how people perceive the state as a utopia, even though it’s imperfect with issues. 

Lee said that ultimately, the more prestigious a profile he can build of his own with awards like those from ECC, the more he can help develop careers for his students and create connections for them.   

“I’ve got great students who keep me on my toes,” he said. “They’re always challenging me and surprising me and [they] keep me having to learn. That’s something I really appreciate.” 

Visit Lee’s website for updates on his album and other future projects.