YOONHEE LEE is a Korean-American violinist. She enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Her biggest influences are the late Masuko Ushioda, Vera Beths, and the late Anner Bijlsma.
Lee has premiered and recorded numerous works by renowned composers, such as Rebecca Saunders, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Richard Barrett, and Nina Young. Other luminaries with whom she has worked closely include Kaija Saariaho, Enno Poppe, Georg Friedrich Haas, Beat Furrer, Jörg Widmann, Lei Liang, Seán ó Dálaigh, and Shiuan Chang. She is the dedicatee of a solo violin piece by composer Simone Cardini, titled Ramificazioni d'indistinto (2018).
She has appeared on stages worldwide, including the Berliner Philharmonie, St. Eustache in Paris, WDR Funkhaus Wallrafplatz Köln, Huddersfield Town Hall, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Concertgebouw, Musiikkitalo, Concertgebouw Brugge, Royal Albert Hall, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, Calderwood Hall at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Fraser Performance Studio at WGBH Boston, Shostakovich Hall, and Teatro Gran Rex in Buenos Aires. Lee has held two major concert tours in China.
Born in Seoul, Lee began the piano at the age of three and violin at five. She and her family immigrated to Boston just before her tenth birthday. She did not speak a word of English, and for years music became her means of communication as well as refuge. Early experiences of navigating between languages and cultures remain a strong part of her identity; as an artist she is interested in fluidity and fragility of genres and boundaries, and she seeks innovation and experimentation in all her endeavors.
Lee’s primary instrument and bow are a Philip Ihle violin and a Joseph Henry bow circa 1860. She currently resides in Boston with her husband Tom, dog Schatzi, and cat Opus.
New England Conservatory (B.M. 2011, M.M. 2013), Conservatorium van Amsterdam (M.M. 2015 cum laude); Frank Huntington Beebe Fund for Study Abroad (2013-14)
June 2024