Award-winning violinist Kristin Lee joins CCM's faculty

UC College-Conservatory of Music Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of acclaimed violinist Kristin Lee to the college’s roster of distinguished performing and media arts faculty members. Praised by the likes of The Strad, The Washington Post, New York Classical Review and more, Lee’s appointment as Assistant Professor of Violin begins on Aug. 15, 2021.

A recipient of the 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, as well as a top prizewinner of the 2012 Walter W. Naumburg Competition and the Astral Artists’ 2010 National Auditions, Lee is a violinist of remarkable versatility and impeccable technique who enjoys a vibrant career as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and educator. “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity,” writes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Strad reports, “She seems entirely comfortable with stylistic diversity, which is one criterion that separates the run-of-the-mill instrumentalists from true artists.”

Recent and upcoming highlights include concerts presented by the San Francisco Symphony with Itzhak Perlman, Amarillo Symphony, Chamber Music Sedona, a tour with the Silk Road Ensemble, Music@Menlo, Parlance Chamber Concerts, Moab Music Festival, Music in the Vineyards, Town Hall Seattle, Lyra Music Festival, Olympic Music Festival, North Carolina New Music Initiative and the Leicester International Music Festival, as well as performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Camerata Pacifica.

Lee’s many honors include awards from the 2015 Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, 2011 Trio di Trieste Premio International Competition, the SYLFF Fellowship, Dorothy DeLay Scholarship, the Aspen Music Festival’s Violin Competition, the New Jersey Young Artists’ Competition and the Salon de Virtuosi Scholarship Foundation. She is also the unprecedented First Prize winner of three concerto competitions at the Juilliard School: in the Pre-College Division in 1997 and 1999, and in the College Division in 2007.

Born in Seoul, Lee began studying the violin at the age of five, and within one year won First Prize at the prestigious Korea Times Violin Competition. In 1995, she moved to the United States and continued her musical studies under Sonja Foster. Two years later, she became a student of Catherine Cho and Dorothy DeLay in the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division. In January 2000, she was chosen to study with Itzhak Perlman. Lee holds a Master’s degree from the Juilliard School. She is the co-founder and artistic director of Emerald City Music in Seattle.

“Kristin Lee will be an outstanding addition to our faculty," said Romanstein. "Her artistry and expertise will help CCM continue to prepare future generations of students for positions on the world stage. I want to recognize the excellent work of our search committee chaired by James Bunte, which included faculty members Won-Bin Yim, Kurt Sassmannshaus, Mark Gibson, Stefani Matsuo and Sasha Kazovsky, along with artist diploma student Jordan Curry.”

"I am extremely thrilled and humbled to be joining the faculty of CCM," said Lee. "Recognizing the extraordinary history of violin pedagogy at CCM, which includes my teacher Dorothy DeLay, I take this opportunity with great honor and look forward to nurturing the violinists of our future generation."

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Featured image at top: Portrait of Kristin Lee. Photo/Sophie Zhai