Trey Lee (Chinese:李垂誼; pinyin: Chui-yee Lee) is a Hong Kong-born cellist based in Berlin, Germany. A laureate of major international competitions, he appears as a featured soloist with orchestras and festivals all over the world. He is also a member of Canada’s award-winning piano quartet Ensemble Made in Canada. Lee is the founding artistic director of Musicus Society and has spearheaded several music festivals such as the Musicus Fest and the Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival.

Early life

Lee was born in Hong Kong into a musical family. His mother attended the

Central Conservatory of Music The Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM; ) is the national music academy of China, located in Beijing. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education. The academy is part of Project 211 and the Double First-Class Construction. Overview Fo ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

for piano and his two sisters attended 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 ...

in New York City to study piano and violin. Lee spent much of his youth studying in the United States.

Education

Lee first graduated from the Juilliard School Pre-College Division and then went on to graduate from Harvard with an AB in Economics. He continued his musical studies at New England Conservatory for his master's degree, later furthering his education in Europe at the

Reina Sofía School of Music The Reina Sofía School of Music (Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Spanish) is a private music school founded in Madrid, Spain, in 1991 by Paloma O'Shea. It belongs to the Albéniz Foundation, and it bears the name of its Honorary Pr ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and the

Cologne Musikhochschule Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and over 3.1 million people in the Cologne Bonn urban ...

in Germany. His teachers include

Frans Helmerson Frans Helmerson (born 1945) is a Swedish cellist, pedagogue, and conductor. Biography Helmerson was born in 1945 and by the age of 8 began playing cello. Later on, he studied with Guido Vecchi in Götheborg, Giuseppe Selmi in Rome, and with Willi ...

, Laurence Lesser, and Ardyth Alton.

Career

After graduating from Harvard University with an AB in Economics, Lee spent one year working as a management consultant at Parthenon (now EY) before continuing his musical education in Europe and pursuing a musical career. Lee has worked with well-known conductors, composers and orchestras worldwide, such as

Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel (; March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in t ...

Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is a Soviet-born Icelandic pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. Ashkenazy has collaborated with well-known orchestras and soloists. In addition, ...

Santtu-Matias Rouvali Santtu-Matias Rouvali (born 5 November 1985) is a Finnish conductor and percussionist. He is chief conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra. Biography Rouvali was born in Lahti into a ...

Dima Slobodeniouk Dima Slobodeniouk (Димa Слободенюк; born 1975) is a Finnish conductor. Early Years Slobodeniouk was born in Moscow. As a youth, Slobodeniouk began his violin studies from 1980 to 1989, at the Moscow Central Music School, where his ...

Leonard Slatkin Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer. Early life and education Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...

Vassily Sinaisky Vassily Serafimovich Sinaisky (Russian language, Russian: Васи́лий Серафи́мович Сина́йский, born in Abez camp, Komi Republic, April 20, 1947) is a Russian conductor and pianist. Biography Sinaisky studied conducting ...

Hannu Lintu Hannu Petteri Lintu (born 13 October 1967) is a Finnish conductor. Early life and education Hannu Lintu was born in Rauma, the son of Johannes Lintu, an electrical engineer, and his wife Lilja Lintu (née Toivonen), a photographer. He studied p ...

Osmo Vänskä Osmo Antero Vänskä (born 28 February 1953) is a Finnish conductor, clarinetist, and composer. Biography Vänskä started his musical career as an orchestral clarinetist with the Turku Philharmonic (1971–76). He then became the principal clar ...

Jun Märkl Jun Märkl (born 11 February 1959 in Munich) is a German conductor. Biography One of three children born to a Japanese pianist mother and a German violinist father, Märkl studied piano and the violin as a youth. Beginning in 1978 at the Musikhoc ...

Bright Sheng Bright Sheng (; born December 6, 1955) is a Chinese-born American composer, pianist and conductor. Sheng has earned many honors for his music and compositions, including a MacArthur Fellowship in 2001; he also was a two-time Pulitzer Prize final ...

, the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

of London,

Munich Chamber Orchestra The Munich Chamber Orchestra (, or MKO) is a German chamber orchestra based in Munich. Its primary concert venue is the Prinzregententheater, Munich. The MKO also gives concerts in Munich at such venues as the Pinakothek der Moderne and the ', an ...

, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Netherlands Philharmonic,

BBC Philharmonic The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Media ...

Stuttgarter Kammerorchester The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra (Stuttgarter Kammerorchester) is a German chamber orchestra based in Stuttgart. Its principal concert venue is the . History Karl Münchinger founded the orchestra in 1945, and served as its chief conductor until ...

Moscow Chamber Orchestra The Moscow Chamber Orchestra (MCO) is a chamber orchestra run under the auspices of the Moscow Philharmonia, a state-run enterprise, formerly under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture (Soviet Union) and now, Ministry of Culture of Russian Fe ...

Camerata Salzburg The Camerata Salzburg is an Austrian chamber orchestra based in Salzburg, Austria. The Camerata's principal concert venue is the Mozarteum University. History Bernhard Paumgartner founded the ensemble in 1952 as the ''Camerata Academica des Moz ...

and

Trondheim Soloists Trondheim Soloists () are a musical chamber ensemble of string players based in Trondheim, Norway. The ensemble was founded in 1988 and has been an arena for professional concert training for string-players at the Music Conservatory at the Norwe ...

. He is often invited as a featured artist at major events around the world including: a concert initiated by United Nations Secretary General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

at the

United Nations General Assembly Hall The United Nations General Assembly Building is part of the headquarters of the United Nations in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It contains the main assembly hall of the United Nations Genera ...

, alongside Maestro Lu Jia, composer

Tan Dun Tan Dun (, ; born 18 August 1957) is a Chinese-born American composer and conductor. A leading figure of contemporary classical music, he draws from a variety of Western and Chinese influences, a pairing which has shaped much of his life and mu ...

, and coloratura soprano

Sumi Jo Sumi Jo, OSI (; ; born 22 November 1962) is a South Korean lyric coloratura soprano known for her Grammy Award-winning interpretations of the bel canto repertoire. Life and career Early life and education Jo was born Jo Su-gyeong in Ch ...

; Phoenix Television's global live broadcast concert with the China Symphony Orchestra at the Beijing National Center for Performing Arts; and both Beethoven Orchestra Bonn's inaugural tour to China under Maestro Stefan Blunier and

Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall (Detroit, Michigan), Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown, Detroit, ...

’s first China tour under

. Lee gave the world premiere in October 2012 of Bright Sheng's latest cello concerto inspired by Dunhuang, one of China's cultural treasures. In 2014, he was invited for the launch of the IMAGINE Project at the UN General Assembly Hall with Yoko Ono, Hugh Jackman and ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Lee also performed in a fundraising concert for well-known anti-apartheid and human rights activist Denis Goldberg and his House of Hope Foundation in South Africa. Since 2020 he has performed with the Canadian piano quartet Ensemble Made in Canada. Lee plays on the 1703 “Comte de Gabriac” cello by Venetian master maker Matteo Goffriller.

TV

In 2004, Lee was featured in

Radio Television Hong Kong Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service of Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Economic ...

's TV documentary ''Outstanding Young Chinese Musicians'' alongside pianists

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with major orchestras around the world and appeared at many leading concert halls. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Phi ...

and

Yundi Li Yundi Li ( zh, s=李云迪, t=李雲迪, p=Lǐ Yúndí; born 7 October 1982), also known simply as Yundi (stylized as YUNDI), is a Chinese classical concert pianist. Yundi is considered one of the greatest contemporary interpreters of Chopin and ...

. Lee also appeared on a Phoenix Television global live broadcast concert with the China Symphony Orchestra at the Beijing National Center for Performing Arts.

Honors and awards

Lee has won major international competitions, including First Prize at the 2004 International Antonio Janigro Cello Competition. Prior to winning the Antonio Janigro competition, he won major prizes at New York's

Naumburg Competition The Walter W. Naumburg Foundation sponsors competitions and provides awards for young classical musicians in North America. Founded in 1925, it operates the prestigious Naumburg Competition. Foundation and concerts It was founded in 1925 by Wal ...

and Helsinki's International Paulo Competition.

Discography

Collaborating with

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

, Lee has released several albums and was a featured soloist on the original EMI-released sound track recording for the German-Taiwan-Hong Kong co-produced film '' The Drummer'', which was in competition at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in 2008. Lee's discography includes:

Musicus Society

Lee co-founded Musicus Society in 2010 with his sister Chui-Inn Lee, a charitable organization based in Hong Kong with the mission of promoting cross cultural collaboration through music.

References

External links

Lee's Official Website

Lee performing with Eugene Pao and the Trondheim Sololists (Musicus Fest 2018 Festival Opening)

Lee performing with the Munich Chamber Orchestra (Haydn Cello Concerto in C Major)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Trey Chinese classical cellists Living people Hong Kong classical musicians Hong Kong expatriates in Canada Harvard University alumni EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian classical cellists