Poetry, Visual art, the nature and Eastern/Western philosophy are all elements that influence Lee's works. He completed a Bachelor Degree at Eastman School of Music and Masters at Rice University. His main composition teachers have been Carlos Sanchez-Guitierrz, David Liptak, Ricardo Zohn Moolden, Pierre Jalbert, Shih-Hui Chen, Shulamit Ran, Anthony Cheung and Augusta Read Thomas.