Motivated and hungry for new experiences, Korean-born, Philadelphia-made cellist and activist, Christine J. Lee, crosses cultural boundaries through music and aims to connect people around the world. She is the most recent winner of the Isang Yun international competition in Korea as well as a laureate of the first Queen Elisabeth International Cello Competition.
Some of her highlights for this season includes the American premiere of Andrea Tarrodi's Concerto, as well as her debut at the Berlin Philharmonie lunch series. In her previous seasons, she successfully made her debut with the Brussels Philharmonic playing the Brahms Double Concerto with Augustin Dumay on violin and under the baton of Giancarlo Guerrero. She has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Monterey Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Symphony, Houston Symphony, as well as Young Belgian Strings, Orchestra of Mons, and the National Orchestra of Belgium as a soloist.
Christine began playing the cello at the age of seven, and she made her debut with the Seoul Philharmonic only two years later. She was accepted to The Curtis Institute of Music at the age of ten. Since then, she has performed around the globe as a soloist and a chamber musician. She has appeared in many prestigious venues, such as the Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Musée du Louvre, and the Victoria Hall. As a musician of versatility and diverse interest, she has worked with contemporary music ensembles like eighth blackbird and Juilliard AXIOM. Christine also enjoys playing Baroque, especially the Bach Cantatas, and has worked with Anner Bylsma and Roel Dieltiens. In addition to exploring and performing different styles of classical music, she is one of the original members of “CelloPointe”, whose performances combine classical ballet and music in an intimate setting with music encompassing from Baroque through contemporary works and genres. She is currently living her dream of traveling around the world educating and communicating through music. She especially loves working with other musicians from different backgrounds in a chamber music setting, and her passion has led to appearances in prestigious festivals such as La Musica Festival, Music@Menlo, La Jolla Summerfest, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Music@Angelfire, and Marlboro Festival. Christine studied with Orlando Cole, Peter Wiley, and Carter Brey at the Curtis Institute of Music where she received a B.M. and with Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School, where she completed her M.A. She is an artist-in-residence at Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth where she works closely with Gary Hoffman and Jeroen Reuling. Furthermore, she is pursuing an Advanced Performance Diploma under the guidance of Christoph Richter at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
In addition to her performances, Christine is an avid advocate for charitable and philanthropic causes. In January 2017, she organized a charity concert as well as coat & backpack drive for the refugee children in Brussels. This season, she will be participating in community projects with Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth and Nativitas and organize concerts for homeless people in Brussels.
She plays on a Francesco Stradivarius on a generous loan from an anonymous sponsor.