EARL LEE

ABOUT

Winner of the 2022 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, Earl Lee is a renowned Korean-Canadian conductor who has captivated audiences worldwide. Earl is in his second season as Music Director of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and in his third season as Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which he has led in subscription concerts both at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood. 

In addition to a full season of concerts with the Ann Arbor Symphony and subscription concerts with the Boston Symphony in Boston and at Tanglewood, Earl’s 23/24 season includes guest conducting engagements with the Vancouver Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, The Florida Orchestra, and the Royal Conservatory Orchestra Toronto. Previous seasons have seen subscription debuts with the San Francisco Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Hawaii Symphony, and Edmonton Symphony; leading the Lunar New Year galas of both the New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony; and concerts with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra and with Sejong Soloists in both New York and Seoul.

Earl previously held positions as Associate Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and as the Resident Conductor of the Toronto Symphony. In 2022, he appeared with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam as a participant in the Ammodo masterclasses led by Fabio Luisi. 

Earl’s 23/24 programs with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra include contemporary works by John Adams, Brian Raphael Nabors, Joan Towers, Gala Flagello, Jessie Montgomery, and Zhou Tian as well as the first installment of a multi-year Beethoven cycle with Symphonies Nos. 2, 5 and 9. He leads the orchestra in its Detroit Orchestra Hall debut in January 2024 in a concert during the Sphinx Organizations’s annual SphinxConnect convention. 

In all of his professional activities, Earl seeks ways to connect with fellow musicians and audiences on a personal level. He has taken great pleasure in mentoring young musicians as former Artistic Director and Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and as Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra and is a regular guest conductor with the orchestras of North America’s top music schools such as Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School,  and the New England, San Francisco, and Royal Conservatories.

 As a cellist, Earl has performed at festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Caramoor Rising Stars, and Ravinia’s Steans Institute and has toured as a member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO), with Musicians from Marlboro, and with Gary Burton & Chick Corea as a guest member of the Harlem String Quartet.

 Earl was the recipient of the 50th Anniversary Heinz Unger Award from the Ontario Arts Council in 2018, of a Solti Career Assistance Award in 2021 and has been awarded a Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Scholarship by Kurt Masur and the Ansbacher Fellowship by the American Austrian Foundation and members of the Vienna Philharmonic. He studied cello at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School and conducting at Manhattan School of Music and the New England Conservatory. He lives in New York City with his wife and their daughter.

LOOKING

November 9, 2024 | 8:00 PM
Michigan Theater
Ann Arbor, MI

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
DVOŘÁK | Cello Concerto
GYÖRGY KURTÁG | Ligatura
BRAHMS | Symphony No. 3
Sterling Elliott, cello

November 16,  2024 | 7:30 PM
November 17, 2024 | 1:30 PM
Boettcher Concert Hall
Denver Performing Arts Complex
Denver, CO

Colorado Symphony
CARLOS SIMON |Four Black American Dances, Mvts. I & IV
BÉLA FLECK |Juno Concerto, Mvt. III
GERSHWIN | Rhapsody in Blue
RACHMANINOFF |Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
Béla Fleck, banjo

November 22, 2024 | 8:00 PM
Koerner Hall
Toronto, CA

Royal Conservatory Orchestra
STRAUSS | Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche
BRITTEN | Violin Concerto
RACHMANINOFF| Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
Anna Štube, violin

December 21, 2024| 7:30 PM
Hill Auditorium
Ann Arbor, MI

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
Holiday Concert
Program TBD

January 24 & 25, 2025 | 8:00 PM
Orchestra Hall
Detroit, MI

 

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
ANDREA CASSARUBIOS | Herencia
MOZART | Flute Concerto No. 1
MOZARTSymphony No. 39
Demarre McGill, flute

February 10, 2025 | 2:30 PM
Royal Theatre
Victoria, BC

Victoria Symphony
TCHAIKOVSKY | Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
SAINT-SAËNS | The Muse and the Poet
DVOŘÁK | Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”
Terence Tam, violin
Brian Yoon, cello

February 22, 2025 | 8:00 PM
Michigan Theater
Ann Arbor, MI

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
JESSIE MONTGOMERY | Overture
TCHAIKOVSKY | Violin Concerto
SHOSTAKOVICH | Symphony No. 10
Stella Chen, violin

March 2, 2025 | 8:00 PM
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA

Colburn Orchestra
MAHLER | Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”

March 22, 2025 | 7:30 PM
First Ontario Concert Hall
Hamilton, ON

Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra
RAVEL | Mother Goose Suite
RAVEL | Piano Concerto in G Major
MUSSORGSKY/RAVEL | Pictures at an Exhibition
Jane Coop, piano

March 27, 2025 | 7:30 PM
Rebecca Cohn, Halifax
Nova Scotia, CA

Symphony Nova Scotia
CARLOS SIMON | Fate Now Conquers
JOAQUÍN RODRIGO | Concierto de Aranjuez
CHRIS BRUBECK | Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra
BEETHOVEN | Symphony No. 2
Daniel Bolshoy, guitar

April 4, 2025 | 7:30 PM
April 5, 2025 | 7:30 PM
April 6, 2025 | 2:30 PM
Neel Performing Arts Center
Sarasota, FL

Sarasota Orchestra
PETER BOYER | Horizons (new commission)
BEETHOVEN | Piano Concerto No. 3
BRAHMS | Symphony No. 4
Jon Kimura Parker, piano

May 17, 2025 | 8:00 PM
Hill Auditorium
Ann Arbor, MI

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
KATHERINE BALCH | musica pyralis
MAHLER | Symphony No. 5

May 22, 2025 | 6:00 PM
Alice Tully Hall
New York, NY

Juilliard Orchestra
RAVEL | La Valse
MOLLY JOYCE | New work, TBA (commissioned by Juilliard School)
SAINT-SAËNS |
Symphony No. 3, “Organ Symphony”

 

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