In 1953 Lees’ Sonata for Two Pianos and String Quartet No. 1 were among the works to win the first Fromm Music Foundation award. 1954 was a pivotal year for Lees; the first significant performance of his work occurred when the NBC Symphony performed Profiles for Orchestra. The same year he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. This enabled him to leave the U.S. and travel to Europe, eventually settling in a small village near Paris.

His aim was to remain uninfluenced by the turbulent American scene in order to create his own style.
Benjamin Lees remained in Europe for seven years. During those years he became the first recipient of the Copley foundation award and received a Fulbright Fellowship. His Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 2 received their first performances. Later Lees received the unesco Award for String Quartet No. 2 and the Sir Arnold Bax Society Medal in London, given for the first time to a non-British composer.
Benjamin Lees returned to the U.S. in 1962 and was appointed Professor of Composition at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. There he remained until 1964, when he joined the faculty of Queens College. It was while at Queens College Lees composed the Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra 1964), a work that to date had more than 80 performances by over 35 orchestras, In the same year he was commissioned by John DeLancie principal of the Philadelphia Orchestra to write a Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra. In 1966 Lees returned to the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Music, remaining there until 1968. There he composed the Piano Concerto No. 2. Its first performance was given by Gary Graffman with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Erich Leinsdorf. Subsequently Lees received his second Guggenheim Fellowship.

One year later he completed his Symphony No. 3, and in 1970 Medea in Corinth, his one-act musical drama, was given its premiere at the Purchell Room, Queen ElizabethHall, London. In 1976 three Bicentennial commissions received their first performances: Pasacaglia for Orchestra commissioned by Antal Dorati for the National Symphony Orchestra; Variations for Piano and Orchestra; and the Concerto for Woodwind Quintet and Orchestra commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Lees then produced two song cycles, and in 1982 the Clark/Schuldmann duo commissioned the Double Concerto for Cello and Piano, for the American Symphony Orchestra, New York. His Concerto for Brass Choir and Orchestra received its world premiere in March 1983 by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. In 1984 Lees completed Portrait of Rodin, his second commission from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra each of its seven sections based on a particular work by the French sculptur.

The Dallas symphony Orchestra also commissioned the featured work on this recording, the monumental Symphony No. 4 “Memorial Candles” for mezzo-soprano and violin solo with orchestra, written to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust. The three- movement, hour-long work was given its premiere in 1985 with soloists Zehava Gal and Pinchus Zuckerman to widespread critical acclaim. Within a year of the premiere it was performed by the Atlanta, Winnipeg, and Houston symphony orchestras, as well as the London Philharmonia and the Israel Philharmonic. Lees’ Symphony No. 5, Odyssey II for solo piano, and a String Quartet No. 4 followed. In 1991 the Pittsburgh Symphony commissioned a concerto for its principal French horn player, William Caballero and, in 1994 Echoes of Normandy, was commissioned by the Dallas Symphony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy during World War II, for dramatic tenor, pre-recorded tape, organ and orchestra. Premiered at the Myerson Center, Dallas, Texas, on June 15, 1994, with Edward Cook, tenor, Paul Riedo, organ, and the Dallas Symphony conducted by Andrew Litton. Contours, commissioned by the Sea Cliff Chamber players, for ensemble. The work was premiered at the Sea Cliff Theater, Sea Cliff, Long Island by the Sea Cliff Chamber Players, New York for piano, violin, cello, clarinet and French Horn premiered at the Sea Cliff Theater. Celebration, commissioned by the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the orchestra’s 50th anniversary. World premiere was October 10, 1996, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Stephen Gunzenhauser, conductor.

In 1997 Lees was commissioned by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo to write Constellations, commemorating the 700th anniversary of the Grimaldi Dynasty. The world premiere took place in Monte Carlo, July 17, with the orchestra conducted by James DePreist. A second commission by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo this time for a Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, premiered in December 5, 1999 with Hubert Soudant, conducting.
World premiere of Night Spectres, for unaccompanied cello, performed at the U.S. Holocaust Museum on May 21, 2001 by Stephen Honigberg.
The National Federation of Music Clubs commissioned the composer to write a work for two pianos for its Ellis Competition for duo pianists. At the same time, Pacific Serenades commissioned Lees to compose a piece for flute, clarinet, cello and piano for its 2004 season.
The String Quartet #5, commissioned by the Cypress String Quartet was given its world premiere in San Francisco on March 3, 2002, and its Kennedy Center premiere performance October 22 in Washington, D.C.
The Nervous Family, commissioned by The Young People’s Chorus of New York, was premiered at the Society for Ethical Culture in April 2004 in New York.
Tapestry , Commissioned by Pacific Serenades, Los Angeles was first performed by the Pacific Serenades, on April 17, 2004 at the UCLA Faculty Center. String Quartet No. 5 commissioned by the Cypress String Quartet was given its premiered in San Francisco on March 3, 2002, and its Kennedy Center premiered, Washington, D.C. October 22, 2002. The String Quartet No. 6 premiered December 4, 2005 at the Le Petit Trianon in San Jose, California with the Cypress String Quartet.
Landscape for Solo Violin (2006) was commissioned by violinist Ellen Orner and premiered by her at the Maryland Institute of Contemporary Art. Contrasts for Solo Violin was performed in May 2007 at the Bargemusic Series, New York City. Piano Concerto #3 commissioned by The Florida Orchestra, Tampa, on April 15, 2007 with soloist Ian Hobson.