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

September 23, 2023 | 8:00PM
Hill Auditorium
Ann Arbor, MI

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
Opening Night
JOAN TOWER| Made in America
KORNGOLD| Violin Concerto
DVOŘÁK | Symphony No. 9 (From the New World)
Stefan Jackiw, Violin

October 6, 2023 | 8:00PM
Koerner Hall
Toronto, ON

Royal Conservatory Orchestra
RAVEL | Boléro
PROKOFIEV| Violin Concerto No. 2
STRAUSS | Also sprach Zarathustra
Kyung Ah Oh, Violin

October 25, 2023 | 7:30PM
NEC: Jordan Hall
Boston, MA

New England Conservatory of Music Philharmonia
R. SCHUMANN | Manfred Overture
DONGHOON SHIN | Upon His Ghostly Solitude
BRAHMS | Symphony No. 2

November 10, 2023 | 8:00PM
Hill Auditorium
Ann Arbor, MI

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
BRIAN RAPHAEL NABORS | Pulse
MENDELSSOHN | Violin Concerto
GALA FLAGELLO | Vitality
BARTÓK | Concerto for Orchestra
Aaron Berofsky, Violin

November 18, 2023 | 7:30PM
Alice Tully Hall
New York, NY

Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra
FRANCK |  Le Chasseur maudit
BACEWICZ | Cello Concerto No. 1 (1951)
MUSSORGSKY | Pictures at an Exhibition

November 24, 2023 | 1:30PM
November 25, 2023 | 8:00PM
Symphony Hall
Boston, MA

Boston Symphony Orchestra
FRANCK | Le Chasseur maudit
TOMASI| Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY | Symphony No. 4
Steven Banks, Saxophone

January 19, 2024 | 8:00PM
Straz Center for the Performing Arts
Tampa, FL

The Florida Orchestra
SILVESTROV | Prayer for Ukraine
BARBER | Violin Concerto
TCHAIKOVSKY | Symphony No. 6
Stella Chen, Violin

January 20, 2024 | 8:00 PM
Mahaffey Theater
Tampa, FL

The Florida Orchestra
SILVESTROV | Prayer for Ukraine
BARBER | Violin Concerto
TCHAIKOVSKY | Symphony No. 6
Stella Chen, Violin

January 26, 2024| 8:o0PM
Orchestra Hall
Detroit, MI

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
MOZART | Overture to the Marriage of Figaro
JOSEPH HAYDN | Cello Concerto No. 1
JESSIE MONTGOMERY| Divided
MOZART | Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter”
Tommy Messa, Cello

January 27, 2024 | 8:00PM
The Michigan Theater
Ann Arbor, MI

 

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
MOZART | Overture to the Marriage of Figaro
JOSEPH HAYDN | Cello Concerto No. 1
JESSIE MONTGOMERY| Divided
MOZART | Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter”
Tommy Messa, Cello

February 10, 2024 | 7:30PM
Centennial Concert Hall
Winnipeg, MB

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
JESSIE MONTGOMERY | Starburst
MOZART | Ach, ich fuhl’s from Zauberflöte
CARLOS SIMON| Fate Now Conquers
BEETHOVEN | Symphony No. 6
Sarah Dufresne, Soprano

February 16, 2024 | 8:00PM
Hill Auditorium
Ann Arbor, MI

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
RACHMANINOFF| Piano Concerto No. 3
ZHOU TIAN | Transcend
RAVEL | La Valse
Eric Lu, Piano

February 24, 2024 | 8:00PM
Chan Centre
Vancouver, BC

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
ZOSHA DI CASTRI | Pentimento
R. SCHUMANN | Piano Concerto
BEETHOVEN | Symphony No. 6
Eric Lu, Piano

March 1, 2024 | 7:30PM
March 2, 2024 | 7:30PM
Jack Singer Concert Hall
Calgary, AB

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra
ZOSHA DI CASTRI | Pentimento
MENDELSSOHN | Violin Concerto
BEETHOVEN | Symphony No. 7
Diana Cohen, Violin

April 6, 2024 | 8:00PM
The Michigan Theater
Ann Arbor, MI

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
All Beethoven Program
BEETHOVEN | Coriolan Overture
BEETHOVEN | Symphony No. 2
BEETHOVEN | Symphony No. 5

April 13, 2024 | 7:30PM
April 14, 2024 | 2:30PM
Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts
Colorado Springs, CO

Colorado Springs Philharmonic
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR | Danse nègre
PROKOFIEV | Violin Concerto No. 2
BERLIOZ | Symphonie fantastique
Stella Chen, Violin

May 18, 2024 | 8:00PM
Hill Auditorium
Ann Arbor, MI

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
ADAMS | The Wound-Dresser
BEETHOVEN | Symphony No. 9
Julie Adams, Soprano
Jazimina MacNeil, Alto
César Andrés Parreño, Tenor
Joseph Parrish, Baritone
UMS Choral Union

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