View source for 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         = [[Conducting|conductor]], [[cellist]]
| years_active       = 2005–present
| website            = {{URL|http://earlleeconductor.com/}}
}}
'''Earl Lee''' (born 9 December 1983) is a South Korean-born Canadian<ref name=":0">{{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}}</ref> conductor and cellist.
== Early education ==
Lee was born in [[Yeosu]], [[South Korea]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Earl Lee |url=https://a2so.org/earl/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra |language=en-US}}</ref> 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,<ref name=":1">{{cite news | title=Earl Lee, Cello | url=https://www.classicalconnect.com/Earl_Lee/9002 | work=Classical Connect | accessdate=5 November 2019}}</ref>{{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]].<ref name=":2">{{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}}</ref> 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]].<ref name=":1" /> 
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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
== 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]].<ref name=":1" /> 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]].<ref name=":3">{{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}}</ref>
Earl Lee was the RBC Resident Conductor for the [[Toronto Symphony Orchestra]] between 2015 and 2018.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> Lee was associate conductor of the [[Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra]] between 2018 and 2022.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{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}}</ref> Lee was named assistant conductor of the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] in August 2021.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Lee was named the music director of the [[Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra]] in June 2022.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
== 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Earl Lee |url=https://siyomusic.org/earl-lee/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Classically Connected}}</ref> In 2013, he also received the Ansbacher Fellowship from the American Austrian Foundation<ref>{{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}}</ref> and members of the [[Vienna Philharmonic]];<ref>{{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}}</ref> this led to him spending six weeks at the [[Salzburg Festival]].<ref name=":4" />
== External links ==
* [http://earlleeconductor.com/ Website]
* [https://a2so.org/earl-lee/ Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra profile]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Earl}}
[[Category:1983 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Yeosu]]
[[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]]
[[Category:Musicians with dystonia]]
[[Category:Canadian cellists]]