Violinist SooBeen Lee has been praised by The Washington Post for her “poised presence, a luxurious sound, spot-on intonation, and a bow arm that surely will be the envy of her peers”. She has already appeared as soloist with every major Korean orchestra, including the Seoul and Busan Philharmonics and KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) Symphony Orchestra. Other distinctions include performances for former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, at the Blue House for the King and Queen of Malaysia, with China’s Wuhan Philharmonic at the Seoul Arts Center, and for many state guests in Korea.
As First Prize Winner of the 2014 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, SooBeen was also honored with The Slomovic Soloist Prize for support for her Washington, DC recital debut at the Kennedy Center, the Michaels Award, which provided support for her New York recital debut, and three performance prizes including the Korean Concert Society Prize. SooBeen made her New York concerto debut performing the Chausson Poème with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall.
SooBeen has appeared as concerto soloist with the Detroit Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Gulf Coast Symphony, Rockford Symphony, Plymouth Philharmonic, Longwood Symphony (Boston), Palm Beach Symphony, and the Aiken Symphony. She has presented recitals for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Southern Adventist University, Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Abbey Church Events, and the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC.
During the 23-24 season SooBeen will join the Columbus Symphony (GA) as soloist in the Sibelius concerto and will make recital appearances with the Bowlus Fine Arts Center (KS), Pepperdine University (Malibu), Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center (NYC), and will also participate in the inaugural chamber music ensemble of YCA on Tour in performances at the University of Florida Performing Arts and BIG ARTS Sanibel Island (FL).
SooBeen’s festival engagements have included appearances at the Heifetz Music Festival, Chopin Music Festival in Poland, City of London Festival, Busan International Music Festival, Great Mountains International Music Festival, Seoul Spring Festival, and Japan’s Ishikawa Summer Music Academy, where she worked with YCA alumnus Koichiro Harada.
SooBeen began studying the violin at the age of four. At eight years old she won the National Competition of the Korean Chamber Orchestra, she won First Prize at the Russia International Youth Violin Competition the following year, and she captured First Prize at the 2013 Moscow International David Oistrakh Violin Competition. At the 2022 Indianapolis Competition SooBeen was awarded the Special Prize “Best Performance of a Work by Paganini, Ernst or Milstein” for her performance of Milstein’s ‘Paganiniana Variations’. Following this success, SooBeen was a 3rd place laureate in the Concours musical international de Montréal. SooBeen currently studies with Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory, where she performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto as winner of their Concerto Competition.
SooBeen plays a Giuseppe Guadagnini Cremona 1794 on loan from Kumho Cultural Foundation.
