Earl Lee
{{Short description|Canadian conductor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Earl Lee
| image =
| caption = Earl Lee conducting in 2019.
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1983|12|09|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Yeosu, South Korea
| occupation = conductor, cellist
| years_active = 2005–present
| website = {{URL|http://earlleeconductor.com/}}
}}
Earl Lee (born 9 December 1983) is a South Korean-born Canadian{{cite news | title=Earl Lee wins RBC Resident Conductor | url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/earl-lee-wins-rbc-resident-conductor-position-516622361.html | work=Newswire | date=4 December 2014 | accessdate=5 November 2019}} conductor and cellist.
Early education
Lee was born in Yeosu, South Korea.{{Cite web |title=Earl Lee |url=https://a2so.org/earl/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra |language=en-US}} He started piano at the age of 5, and started cello at aged 9.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} His entire family immigrated to Vancouver, Canada in 1995,{{cite news | title=Earl Lee, Cello | url=https://www.classicalconnect.com/Earl_Lee/9002 | work=Classical Connect | accessdate=5 November 2019}}{{Verify source|date=October 2024}} then settled into Toronto in 1999.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} Lee began his career as a cellist in the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra.{{cite news |last=Vincent |first=Michael |date=25 April 2018 |title=The Scoop: Earl Lee Named Associate Conductor of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra |url=https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2018/04/25/the-scoop-earl-lee-named-associate-conductor-of-pittsburgh-symphony-orchestra/ |accessdate=5 November 2019 |work=Ludwig Van Toronto}} He was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 16;{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} he studied cello with Orlando Cole and Peter Wiley.
Lee was diagnosed with focal dystonia when he was 24. He flew to South Korea 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.{{cite news |last=D'Cruz |first=Andrew |date=12 May 2018 |title=TSO's resident conductor strikes the right note |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/toronto-symphony-orchestras-resident-conductor-strikes-the-right-note/article22837111/ |accessdate=5 November 2019 |work=The Globe and Mail}}
Continued education and career
After graduating from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2005,{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} Earl Lee received his master's degree in cello performance from the Juilliard School, where he studied with David Soyer. When he began transitioning into a conducting career, he studied with Ignat Solzhenitsyn in 2010. Lee received his master's degree in conducting from the Manhattan School of Music in 2013 under the tutelage of George Manahan. His post-graduate conducting studies were done with Hugh Wolff at the New England Conservatory of Music.{{Cite web |date=23 April 2018 |title=PSO Announces Earl Lee as New Associate Conductor |url=https://pittsburghsymphony.org/pso_home/press-room/press-releases/2017-2018/pso-announces-earl-lee-as-new-associate-conductor |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra}}
Earl Lee was the RBC Resident Conductor for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra between 2015 and 2018. Lee was associate conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra between 2018 and 2022.{{Cite web |last=Goetz |first=Julie |date=October 27, 2021 |title=Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Appoints Two New Assistant Conductors |url=https://pittsburghsymphony.org/pso_home/press-room/press-releases/2021-2022/pittsburgh-symphony-orchestra-appoints-two-new-assistant-conductors |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra}} Lee was named assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in August 2021.{{Cite web |last=Salazar |first=David |date=2021-08-09 |title=Boston Symphony Orchestra Announces New Assistant Conductor |url=https://operawire.com/boston-symphony-orchestra-announces-new-assistant-conductor/ |access-date=2021-10-24 |website=OperaWire |language=en-US}} Lee was named the music director of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra in June 2022.{{Cite web |date=2022-06-09 |title=The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra appoints Earl Lee as its new Music Director |url=https://a2so.org/new-music-director/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra |language=en-US}}
Awards and recognition
In 2018, Lee was awarded the 50th Anniversary Heinz Unger Award from the Ontario Arts Council, recognizing him as one of Canada's most promising emerging conductors.{{cite news |last=Wasser |first=Shoshana |date=12 April 2018 |title=Earl Lee honoured with 50th anniversary Heinz Unger Award |url=https://www.arts.on.ca/news-resources/news/2018/earl-lee-honoured-with-50th-anniversary-heinz-unge |accessdate=16 October 2024 |work=Ontario Arts Council}} He received the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Scholarship in 2013, chosen by conductor Kurt Masur; as a result he was invited to Leipzig to study the music and life of Felix Mendelssohn.{{Cite web |title=Earl Lee |url=https://siyomusic.org/earl-lee/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Classically Connected}} In 2013, he also received the Ansbacher Fellowship from the American Austrian Foundation{{cite news |date=8 August 2024 |title=AAF Young Conductors |url=https://americanaustrianfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/AAF-Young-Conductors-Prize-Alumni-08-August-2024.pdf |accessdate=16 October 2024 |work=The American Austrian Foundation}} and members of the Vienna Philharmonic;{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Earl Lee |url=https://www.aso.org/artists/detail/earl-lee |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Atlanta Symphony Orchestra |language=en}} this led to him spending six weeks at the Salzburg Festival.
External links
- [http://earlleeconductor.com/ Website]
- [https://a2so.org/earl-lee/ Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra profile]
References
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Category:Curtis Institute of Music alumni
Category:Male conductors (music)
Category:Juilliard School alumni
Category:South Korean conductors (music)
Category:Musicians from Toronto
Category:21st-century Canadian conductors (music)
Category:South Korean cellists
Category:21st-century Canadian male musicians
Category:21st-century cellists