Earl Lee (born 9 December 1983) is a South Korean-born Canadian conductor and cellist.

Early education

Lee was born in

Yeosu Yeosu, formerly romanized as Yosu, is a coastal city located on the southern shore of South Korea. With a population of 268,823, Yeosu is the second largest city in South Jeolla Province. In 1998, the Old Yeosu City, Yeocheon City and Yeocheon C ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. He started piano at the age of 5, and started cello at aged 9. His entire family immigrated to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1995, then settled into

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in 1999. Lee began his career as a cellist in the

Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSYO) is an orchestral training programme for musicians under 22, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The TSYO is led by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's RBC Resident Conductor, Trevor Wilson, and coached by T ...

. He was accepted into the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

at the age of 16; he studied cello with Orlando Cole and

Peter Wiley Peter Wiley (born 1955) is a cellist and cello teacher. He entered the Curtis Institute of Music at 13 years of age, where he studied with David Soyer. He was then appointed principal cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony at age 20, after one yea ...

. Lee was diagnosed with

focal dystonia Focal dystonia, also called focal task-specific dystonia, is a neurological condition that affects a muscle or group of muscles in a specific part of the body during specific activities, causing involuntary muscular contractions (spasms) and abno ...

when he was 24. He flew to

to seek an acupuncture specialist, but did not garner results. He sought out Spanish experts in the condition, but the recovery was slow and unpredictable. He then turned to conducting.

Continued education and career

After graduating from the

in 2005, Earl Lee received his master's degree in cello performance from the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, where he studied with

David Soyer David Soyer (February 24, 1923February 25, 2010) was an American cellist. He was born in Philadelphia and began playing the piano at the age of nine. At 11, he started the cello. One of his first teachers was Diran Alexanian. Later on he stud ...

. When he began transitioning into a conducting career, he studied with

Ignat Solzhenitsyn Ignat Aleksandrovich Solzhenitsyn (; born September 23, 1972) is a Russian American conductor and pianist. He is the conductor laureate of the Chamber Orchestra of PhiladelphiaManhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

in 2013 under the tutelage of

George Manahan George Manahan (born 1952, Atlanta, Georgia, USA) is an American conductor. Biography Manahan's parents were church musicians. In high school, he was a drum major in his high school marching band, and also conducted this band. Another of his earl ...

. His post-graduate conducting studies were done with

Hugh Wolff Hugh MacPherson Wolff (born October 21, 1953, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is an American conductor. He was chief conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. Biography Born in France while his father was serving in the U.S. Foreign Service, Wolff s ...

at the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

. Earl Lee was the RBC Resident Conductor for the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toron ...

between 2015 and 2018. Lee was associate conductor of the

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra is resident at Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District. Since 2008, the orchestra's music director is Manfred Ho ...

between 2018 and 2022. Lee was named assistant conductor of the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...

in August 2021. Lee was named the music director of the

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (A2SO) is an American orchestra based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is one of two symphony orchestras in Southeast Michigan alongside the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Founded in 1928, the A2SO plays most of its con ...

in June 2022.

Awards and recognition

In 2018, Lee was awarded the 50th Anniversary Heinz Unger Award from the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by O ...

, recognizing him as one of Canada's most promising emerging conductors. He received the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Scholarship in 2013, chosen by conductor

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (; 18 July 192719 December 2015) was a German Conducting, conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewand ...

; as a result he was invited to

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

to study the music and life of

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

. In 2013, he also received the Ansbacher Fellowship from the American Austrian Foundation and members of the

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

; this led to him spending six weeks at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

External links

Website

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Earl 1983 births Living people People from Yeosu Curtis Institute of Music alumni Male conductors (music) Juilliard School alumni South Korean conductors (music) Musicians from Toronto 21st-century Canadian conductors (music) South Korean cellists 21st-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century cellists Musicians with dystonia Canadian cellists