(Virgil) Lee Norrell is from the Mid-west of the United States. He immigrated to Australia in 1991 to work for Education Queensland and recently retired as the woodwind teacher at MacGregor State High School and MacGregor Primary. As part of his teaching duties he conducted four ensembles and has tutored in Music Education at The University of Queensland for 9 years.
As a flautist, Lee has studied with Alta Collins, Albert Tipton, George Pope, Frances Shelley and James Kortum. He has performed in masterclasses with Jeanne Baxtresser and participated in workshops with Leone Buyse.
While in the US, Lee played with orchestras and chamber groups and in Brisbane was the principal flutist with the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra for 21 years and performed 2nd flute/piccolo with the Queensland Pops Orchestra for thirteen years. He has been an active member of the Brisbane City Pops Orchestra, Ipswich City Orchestra, Northern Rivers Orchestra and the Sinfonia of St Andrews. He has featured as a soloist in over 30 concerts and in 2012 performed the Australian premiere of Michael Daugherty’s flute concerto, The Trail of Tears; this was the fourth concerto he performed with the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra. He is currently a member of the Enharmonie Chamber Ensemble.
Lee has been a guest conductor and adjudicator with groups in Queensland and has been the musical director for community musicals. He is the founding conductor of the Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra.
Lee holds a Bachelor of Arts from the School of the Ozarks, a Masters’ Degree in Music from the University of Akron and obtained his education qualifications from Emporia State University.