Violinist Kyung Sun Lee performed in CityMusic Cleveland's first concerts and
returns as a favorite guest soloist.
She captured sixth prize in the 1994 Tchaikowsky
Competition, a bronze medal in the 1993 Queen Elisabeth Competition,
first prizes of the Washington and D'Angelo International Competitions,
and third prize in the Montreal International Competition, where she
also won the Audience Favorite and the Best Performance of the
Commissioned Work prizes. Subsequent to winning these awards, she has
enjoyed ever-increasing popularity as a performer. She has received high
critical acclaim: "Exceptional tonal suavity and expressive intensity in
equal measure," commented The Strad. "Godard's 'Concerto Romantique'
could not have had a more outstanding soloist than Kyung Sun Lee,"
proclaimed Harris Goldsmith in the New York Concert Review. "Fluidity
and grace; pathos and emotion," raved the Palm Beach Post. "Lee is the
most musical, the most intelligent soloist to have played with the
orchestra in quite a while," maintained the Tuscaloosa News.
"Penetrating clarity, a strong sense of style and a technical supremacy
that conquered all difficulties with unruffled ease," announced the
Miami Herald. "Beyond superb execution, she conveyed [Vieuxtemps's
Concerto no. 5]'s particular Romanticism expertly," remarked Dennis
Rooney in The Strad.
In great demand as a soloist, Lee is also an
accomplished chamber musician, and former member of both the Oberlin and
the KumHo/Asiana String Quartets — the latter with whom she toured
worldwide. Lee also performs regularly with her husband, pianist Brian
Suits: the Lee/Suits duo has performed nationwide under the auspices of
both Community Concerts and Allied Concerts. For years a popular teacher
in Seoul, Lee was assistant professor of violin at the Oberlin
Conservatory from 2001 to 2006, and is currently associate professor of
violin at the University of Houston. In summers past, she has taught and
performed at the Aspen, Marlboro, Seattle, Cape and Islands, Aria, and
Milwaukee Chamber Music festivals (USA), and the Great Mountains,
Juilliard, and EuroArt Festivals (Korea).
In summer of 2008 she taught at both the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Vermont and
the Texas Music Festival in Houston, as well as festivals in her native
Korea. Ms. Lee has recorded two CDs with pianist/husband Brian Suits, "Salut
d'Amour" with pianist HaeSun Paik on EMI, several recordings with the
KumHo/Asiana String Quartet, "Spanish Heart," with German pianist Peter
Schindler and guitarist Sung-Ho Chang on Good International, and a CD of
duos with German cellist Tilmann Wick — released in January of 2004 on
Audite Records, and for
which the duo received high critical acclaim.
Kyung Sun Lee received her Bachelor's Degree from Seoul National
University, and her Master's Degree and Artist Diploma from the Peabody
Conservatory. She also attended the Juilliard School in the professional
studies program. Her teachers have included Nam Yun Kim, Sylvia
Rosenberg, Robert Mann, Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. She plays
a Joseph Guarnerius violin made in 1723.
Violinist Kyung Sun Lee performed in CityMusic Cleveland's first concerts and
returns as a favorite guest soloist.